Tweet Facebook Mail The Australian share market has been battered by a horror morning, with the ASX 200 slumping almost 3 per cent. That equates to $77 billion lost off the market, with a few hours yet to go. It follows a 2.
1 per cent fall on Friday, making it the worst two-day streak in years. DAY 9 WRAP: All the action from a medal-packed night in Paris The ASX has seen massive losses today. (Getty) The big four banks are down three per cent, while Qantas fell 4.
3 per cent. It comes amid international fears the US the economy could be slowing too fast, pointing to a potential hard landing or even a recession. Financial markets worldwide are adjusting, with tech giants like Microsoft and Apple seeing their huge gains from earlier this year corrected.
READ MORE: 'Worst season ever': How things got ugly on Greece's 'Instagram island' US employers added just 114,000 jobs in July — 35 per cent fewer than expected — and unemployment, now at 4.3 per cent, is the highest since October 2021, the US Labour Department reported Friday. "Things are deteriorating quickly,'' said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
The sharp downturn in US hiring shook financial markets around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 610 points, or 1.5 per cent.
The S&P 500 tumbled 1.8 per cent. The sturdy US economy has been a key driver of global economic growth and the US jobs market has been the fuel, giving Americans the confidence and financial wherewithal to keep spending.
READ MORE: The Sydney mansions that have been sitting empty for years Novak's beautiful moment with daughter after finally winning Olympic gold View Gallery The unemployment rate's jump to 4.3 per cent in July crossed a tripwire that historically has signaled recession — though economists say the gauge probably is not reliable in the post-pandemic economy. Hiring may have been disrupted by Hurricane Beryl, which slammed the Texas economy last month.
And ZipRecruiter's Pollak noted employers have cut worker hours and made temporary layoffs — suggesting that they are optimistic a rate cut may turn things around. "They are just slowing hiring and putting people on temporary layoff, furlough," Pollak said. "They want to get back to business.
They see lots of opportunities to expand. They they just need rates to be (lower).'' With Associated Press.
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