Shares of industrial and transportation companies fell after strengthened private-sector jobs data.
The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the final week of 2023 fell to a nearly three-month low of 202,000, the latest sign of stubborn strength in the jobs market despite a spike in credit costs for corporations.
Strategists at brokerage Goldman Sachs said monthly jobs data from the Labor Department, due Friday, is likely to be more mixed.
"On the negative side, we assume another sizeable decline in retail payrolls, reflecting soft brick-and-mortar spending trends during the holiday season," said the Goldman economists.
The average warehouse vacancy rate across the U.S. jumped to 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 4.6% the previous quarter and 3.1% a year earlier, according to a new report from commercial real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-04-24 1724ET
