Your Evening Briefing: Markets Get Clobbered on Big Tech, Jobs and Fed Pivot

Get caught up.

A “Now Hiring” sign outside a Walmart Distribution Center in Saint George, Utah.

Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

The November U.S. jobs report on Friday was, in a word, weird. It showed the smallest jobs gains this year, a participation rate that was edging up, and an unemployment rate that fell more than forecast. It’s a mixed bag that may nevertheless push the Federal Reserve to quicken the wind-down of its pandemic bailout. Between the jobs report, a selloff in big tech and concerns over a hawkish-sounding Fed, it was tough day for the markets, with Nasdaq closing lower by about 2%. Here’s your markets wrap.

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