New York - Wall Street stocks retreated in opening trade on Friday after the Department of Labour reported the US economy added a lower-than-expected 160 000 jobs in April.
The much-anticipated monthly report put April's job gains at by far the weakest level of the year and also modestly downgraded estimates for jobs growth in the prior two months.
On the positive side, wage growth picked up pace to 2.5% year-on-year, a possible sign of continuing firming in the jobs market.
About five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 594.08, down 0.4%.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4% at 2 042.73, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.4% to 4 698.08.