SPDR S&P 500 ETF Faces 28k Healthcare Job Loss and Trails IEFA by 5.19%
US unemployment rose to 4.4% with a 92,000 payroll drop in February as health care lost 28,000 jobs partly due to Kaiser Permanente strikes, testing SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s stability given health care’s 13% index weight. Over 12 months, IEFA returned 22.88% vs SPY’s 17.69%.
1. February Jobs Report Highlights Healthcare Weakness
In February, total US payrolls declined by 92,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, marking the first broad contraction since 2020. The health care and social assistance sector shed 28,000 jobs, driven in part by strike activity at Kaiser Permanente, undercutting the sector’s traditional role as an employment stabilizer.
2. IEFA Outperformance Versus SPDR S&P 500 ETF
Over the trailing 12 months, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF delivered a 22.88% return compared with SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s 17.69%, fueled by robust gains in Japan, Europe and dividends adding 2.37%. This performance gap spotlights SPY’s vulnerability to non-US market momentum and sector composition differences.