Stocks dip after strong jobs report adds fuel to Fed plan to hike interest rates

Many U.S. stocks saw price dips Friday — and bond yields were jumping — after a strong jobs report showing a big increase in hiring last month led investors to expect the Federal Reserve to move quickly this year in its plans to raise interest rates to tackle inflation. 

Job growth around the U.S. was robust in January with employers adding 467,000 new hires, surprising many economists who had forecast that the COVID-19 wave caused by the Omicron variant would dampen payrolls last month. 

"The jobs report blew away expectations across the board," Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth, said in an email. "The report is unequivocally good for the economy, but not for markets as the strength in the numbers presents another data point which supports more aggressively hawkish Fed action" against rising inflation.