For the Markets, a Steady Outlook

The latest jobs report appears to maintain the status quo, and for Wall Street, that’s not a bad thing.

Stocks rose on Friday morning after the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the United States economy had created 175,000 jobs in May. Soon after the opening bell, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 0.4 percent.

The number of jobs created in May was slightly higher than many on Wall Street had expected, but the much more important consideration for most strategists was what the number will mean for the policy makers at the Federal Reserve.

“These days, the specifics of the report are far less important to our clients than is the effect it may or may not have on Fed activity,” Dan Greenhaus, the chief strategist at the brokerage BTIG, wrote to clients immediately after the data was released.

The consensus so far is that the number isn’t so low that it points to a shrinking economy, but it also isn’t so high that it will force the Fed to reconsider its monetary stimulus programs. Wall Street has been worried for the last few weeks that the Fed might be looking to pull back on its stimulus sooner than had been previously expected if the economy showed signs of faster-than-expected growth.

“Today’s report, is exactly as we predicted; it does nothing to change the broader view that the Fed is set to steadily reduce its pace of asset purchases at the September meeting and that all else equal, good news should be taken as good news,” Mr. Greenhaus wrote.