US stocks slip as bond yields edge higher and investors brace for key September jobs report

• Stocks slipped Thursday as bond yields jumped ahead of the highly anticipated September jobs report on Friday.
• Early signs point to cooling in the labor market, with jobless claims rising more than expected and layoff notices up 46% in September.

Stocks slipped again on Thursday, as bond yields jumped ahead of the highly anticipated monthly jobs report from the Labor Department on Friday.

Analysts expect the US to have added around 250,000 jobs in September and for unemployment to remain steady at 3.7%. The data will offer fresh signals on whether the Fed needs to lift rates higher or loosen up on future hikes. Data on Thursday pointed to cooling in the labor market, with weekly jobless claims rising more than expected and layoff notices up 46% in September from August.

Despite the weaker indicators, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said central bankers are "quite a ways away" from bringing down inflation.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 3,744.51, down 1.02%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 29,926.94, down 1.15% (346.93 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 11,073.31, down 0.68%

Here's what else is happening today:

• The British pound dropped against the dollar after Fitch downgraded the UK's credit outlook due to risks stemming from Prime Minister Liz Truss' new mini-budget.
• People in Poland are burning garbage and Romania is capping firewood prices as desperation for energy supplies in Europe ramps up ahead of winter.
• A coming recession won't be as bad as 2008 — as long as the Fed can avoid further policy mistakes, top economist Mohamed El-Erian said.
• Wells Fargo dissected the 2% positive reversal in the S&P 500 on Wednesday, and found that a single $31 million options trade could have been responsible for the sudden swing.
• Saudi Arabia lowered oil prices for Europe, but raised them for the US. That move came after the White House accused OPEC+ of siding with Russia, as the cartel slashed its oil production quota by 2 million barrels a day.

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.3% to $87.72 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.7% to $93.40.
• Gold fell 0.2% to $1,726.60 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points to 3.75%.
• Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $20,197.04.