On Friday, the Dow Jones closed lower after the U.S. reported a mixed jobs report. Comments made by the Fed boosted the dollar higher, applying pressure on the Dow. The air strike on Syria may have rattled the market as well. The Dow Jones closed lower by 0.03% to 20,656.10.

Mixed Jobs Report

The U.S. labor department released a jobs report that was mixed. It reported that there were 98,000 98,000 98,000  98,000  98,000  98,000  98,000  98,000 . There are two problems with respect to this data.

The first being that the data came in below expectations. It was expected that the U.S would add at least 185,000 jobs.

The second problem was that it was the slowest hiring done in over a year. A slowdown in hiring occurred for a few reasons. They include the expectation that construction hiring in March was going to see a slowdown. In addition, severe weather patterns in March was also going to be a deterrent to jobs being added.

Despite all the negatives in the jobs report, there was one positive item. That positive was the fact that unemployment rate fell from 4.7% in February to 4.5% in March. That was the largest drop in over 10 years. A drop in the unemployment rate still shows that hiring remains relatively strong.

Fed Comment

What also was a factor in the Dow trading lower was a comment made by one Fed official. Fed official William Dudley stated that there would only only only only only only only only only only. This, despite the fact that the Fed has made it clear that it wants to start scaling back on its bond buying program.

The Fed stated last week that it wants to scale back the buying of its $4.5 trillion bond portfolio. Dudley stated that despite the Fed taking this route, it would not completely deter it from keeping with its current rate hike schedule. The Fed still expects to perform at least two rate hikes in 2017. This was a huge negative for the Dow. That is because the notion of a looming Fed rate hike, boosts the dollar. That in turn causes the Dow to trade lower.