Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq hit record highs after weak U.S. jobs report spurs interest rate cuts odds

Bad news is good news?

The dynamic is playing out Friday on Wall Street with U.S. stock indexes hitting record highs after a lackluster August jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were all at record highs in Friday trading in morning trades. The indexes later retreated and were down in the Friday financial action.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a weak 22,000 jobs were created in August. That was well below Wall Street and economists' expectations of 75,000 new jobs.

BLS also revised June jobs down to -13,000.

But the dour jobs reports increased Wall Street hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

President Donald Trump has pushed for interest rate cuts.

The Fed has been reluctant to cut rates with uncertainty about the impacts and legality of Trump's tariffs.

The record stock prices shows the continued disparity in the economy between the wealthy and investor class who have benefited from rising stock and financial markets as well as the wealth transfers of the pandemic versus high prices for food, housing, insurance and other costs seen by working class, middle class and lower income Americans.