The U.S. Economy Just Added 162,000 Jobs in August, Blowing Past Estimates: That's Both Good and Bad News for the Stock Market.

The U.S. added 162,000 jobs in August, more than triple economist estimates of 53,000, with broad-based gains across restaurants, government, education, and manufacturing. However, the strong jobs report increased the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike in September from 50% to 62.4%, which spooked investors concerned about higher borrowing costs and recession risks. While the healthy labor market is structurally positive long-term, near-term market sentiment remains negative due to rate hike concerns.