Tom Di Galoma, managing director, Mischler Financial Group, Stamford, Connecticut:
“If you look at all the data components, wages, NFP, this is a very weak labor market that's all of a sudden happened. The only positive thing in this jobs report was the fall in the unemployment rate to 4.1%.
“It takes the Fed off the hiking table.”
Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer, Northlight Asset Management, Charlotte, North Carolina:
"This morning's report cast some cold water on the idea that the jobs market is as rock solid as people have been talking about. The weak jobs report means the Fed can no longer focus exclusively on inflation. It has to balance price stability against full employment, making it much more likely to stay on hold at its next meeting.
"All things being equal, that's good for the stock market. This is one of those 'bad news is good news' situations: bad news in the labor market could be good news for the stock market because the Fed is going to be on hold."
Gary Schlossberg, global strategist, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, San Francisco:
"Payrolls were down and the previous months were revised lower. That accentuates the fact that job growth is slowing a bit. The fact that average hourly earnings growth slowed and the year-over-year increase is below inflation means that inflation-adjusted incomes declined in July. That creates an added headwind for consumer spending, particularly lower and middle- income families that are relying more on incomes to drive spending."
"It's disappointing. We expected a stronger number consistent with the strength we're seeing in other activity data, like the purchasing manager reports, the weekly economic data, and the like. The tone of this report is noticeably weaker."
Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist, Edward Jones, St. Louis, Missouri:
"Today's weaker-than-expected jobs report could spark a 'bad news is good news' reaction in markets. The economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, versus expectations for an 80,000-job gain, while sizeable downward revisions to the prior two months further underscored labor market softness. Combined with modest wage growth, the report should help ease concerns about inflation pressures and reduce expectations for additional Fed tightening. The drop in bond yields may provide some valuation support for stocks."
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist, CFRA Research, New York:
“Investors were anxiously awaiting the jobs report because of the concern that the Fed continues to lean toward a rate hike as its next move and should the employment data support the worry of hot inflation, that would have added to the likelihood that the Fed would be raising rates, not cutting them with their next move.
“However, the jobs report came in much weaker than expected with many negative readings, which sharply pushed lower interest rates. On the surface, it looks as if here is an additional reason for the Fed not to raise rates in the face of a slowing jobs market. However, there's a possibility that because the hospitality reading was so weak, it may be the result of the temporary help for the World Cup.
“The Fed will be looking at all of the data between now and the next meeting since they have reminded us on multiple occasions that they are data dependent and even though historically every new Fed chair has raised rates as their first move in the past 50 years, the jury is still out as to what this one will do.”
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