# FebNonfarmPayrollsUnexpectedlyFall

The unexpected decline in U.S. non-farm employment has put the Federal Reserve's policy outlook in a dilemma. The Middle East conflict has driven oil prices to record weekly gains. The private credit industry has suffered liquidity shocks. Multiple pressures have caused U.S. stocks and the dollar to fall simultaneously within the day, while the commodities index soared to a historic high.
On Friday, the S&P 500 index fell by 1.3%, with a weekly decline of over 2%, marking the worst weekly performance since October last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and small-cap stocks led the decline, dropping by 3-4% this week.
(Weekly trend of the U.S. stock benchmark indices)
According to Wallstreetcn, U.S. non-farm employment decreased by 92,000 in February, with employment for the first two months revised downward by 69,000, the largest decline since the outbreak of the pandemic. The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 4.4%. The sharp drop in data should have ignited expectations of rate cuts, but amid the backdrop of soaring oil prices triggered by Middle East hostilities, the market is gripped by extreme fears of “stagflation.”