NEW YORK—Wall Street drifted to a mixed finish Friday after data suggested the U.S. job market is still warm enough to keep the economy growing but maybe not so hot that it stokes inflation much higher.
The S&P 500 lost 12.64 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,398.95, though slightly more stocks within the index rose than fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 187.38, or 0.6 percent, to 33,734.88, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 18.33, or 0.1 percent, to 13,660.72.
A lot is riding on whether the economy can navigate the narrow pathway to avoid a long-predicted recession. It needs to keep growing despite much higher interest rates instituted by the Federal Reserve to bring down inflation. But it can’t grow so quickly that the Fed feels pressure to brake much harder on the economy to prevent inflation from spiraling higher….