US stocks made big gains on Friday, largely on news that Congress had finally reached a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government default on its debt.
At the closing bell on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up by 701.19 points, or 2.12%, ending at 33,762.76. The S&P 500 also had big gains, growing 61.35 points to close at 4,282.37 for a 1.45% gain. The Nasdaq Composite also grew by 1.07%, adding 139.78 points to close at 13,240.77.
For the Dow, the gain was one of its largest of 2023, approaching the 730-point gain on November 30 of last year.
Had the government defaulted, it would have damaged the country’s credit rating and likely triggered an economic crisis.
Also on Friday, the US Department of Labor released its jobs report for May, revealing that public and private sector jobs together increased by 339,000 last month - far above the 190,000 increase anticipated by Wall Street. It made May 2023 the 29th straight month of positive job growth. Still, unemployment creeped slightly upward, reaching 3.7%.
Still, the US economy could be in for rockier times. Inflation of the dollar remains high, registering at 4.9% for April 2023 over a year prior, and the US gross domestic product (GDP) increased by just 1.3% in the first quarter of 2023. Estimates for GDP growth for the year range from 0.7% by The Conference Board to 1.6% by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).