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The first full trading week in March was volatile. In addition to the February jobs report released on Friday, the military conflict with Iran has weighed on equities and oil prices.

On Monday, the ISM Manufacturing PMI came in at 52.4 compared to an expected 51.7. However, it was slightly lower than last month’s reading of 52.6. Regardless, it shows that manufacturing in the United States is going through an expansion phase.

The ISM Services PMI was released Wednesday and came in at 56.7. This was compared to an expected 53.5 and a January reading of 53.8. As with manufacturing, the services industry is also in a period of expansion that has lasted for several years now.

Also on Wednesday, ADP released its version of the nonfarm payroll report. In February, the economy added 63,000 jobs compared to a projected 50,000 before the release. However, job gains in January were revised downward to just 11,000.

Unemployment claims data was released Thursday and was largely unchanged from the previous week. Over the last seven days, 213,000 requests for benefits were made, which was the same as the previous reading.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued its version of the nonfarm payroll report. In a shocker, it revealed that the economy lost 92,000 jobs in February compared to an expected gain of 58,000. The unemployment rate increased to 4.4 percent while average hourly earnings were up 0.4 percent.

Finally on Friday, retail sales data from January was made public. It was revealed sales were down 0.2 percent that month compared to an expected drop of 0.3 percent. A softer job market and softer retail spending may indicate choppier economic waters going forward.

The conflict with Iran sent West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil up to near $90 a barrel this week. This represents a yearly high and a level not seen since April of 2024. It’s believed that oil prices could surge even higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

Equity markets were mostly lower this week starting with the S&P 500. The index was off by 1.41 percent to close at 6,740. This was a drop of 96 points for an index that is now negative for the year. For the week, the market reached a high of 6,898 on Monday before reversing and hitting its weekly low of 6,712 on Tuesday.

The Dow closed the week off 2.27 percent from the open on Monday. This represented a drop of 1,100 points over the last five trading days for the market that closed Friday’s trading at 47,501. It made a high of 49,041 on Monday before losing ground the rest of the week. The low of 47,055 occurred on Friday.

Finally, the Nasdaq was down 0.55 percent this week to close at 24,643. This was a loss of 137 points over the last five trading days, and in addition to war in Iran, questions about the long-term value of AI also weighed on the tech-heavy index. For the week, the Nasdaq made a low of 24,319 on Monday and a high of 25,176 on Wednesday.

In international news, Australia announced on Tuesday evening that GDP growth over the last quarter was 0.8 percent compared to an expected 0.7 percent increase. On Wednesday, Switzerland announced that inflation increased by 0.6 percent in February compared to an expected increase of 0.5 percent.

The upcoming week will feature a number of important data points. Inflation data will be released on Wednesday while the Core PCE Price Index for February comes out on Friday. Preliminary GDP data for the previous quarter will also be released on Friday. In addition, developments in Iran will likely create volatility in the stock, oil and metals markets.

The final trading week in February featured a number of important events. The first major event of the week was the State of the Union address given by President Trump on Tuesday night.

Although it featured a lot of political posturing, the president did suggest the creation of government-sponsored 401(k) plans. Those plans would allow all Americans to contribute to their retirement whether they were employed by a company that offered such a plan or not. The annual match would be up to $1,000 if the proposal became law. However, it’s important to note that this is just speculation for now and that there would likely be a long road toward its enactment.

On Thursday, the unemployment claims data for the week came out. Over the past seven days, there were 212,000 requests for benefits, which was lower than the projected 217,000 requests for benefits over that period. However, it was slightly higher than the 208,000 claims made the week prior.

On Friday, delayed PPI data from January was released, and it was revealed that prices rose faster than expected that month. For that time period, overall PPI was up by 0.5 percent compared to an expected increase of 0.3 percent. Core PPI was up 0.8 percent compared to a projected increase of 0.3 percent.

An increase in prices may result in changes to the future of monetary policy. While some believe that the Fed could opt to cut interest rates to 2 percent, inflationary pressure will likely cause the Fed to study the issue further before taking action. It’s also worth noting that some Fed members are worried about inflation remaining closer to 3 percent than 2 percent, which is considered the optimum rate for the long-term.

The S&P 500 was down 0.38 percent this week to close at 6,878. This was a drop of 26 points for the index that is down 1.35 over the past month. However, it is still up over 17 percent from this time last year. For the week, the S&P 500 made a high of 6,946 on Wednesday while it made its low of the week of 6,822 on Monday morning.

The Dow was down 1.15 percent this week to close at 48,977 at the end of the day on Friday. This was a drop of 571 points that was fueled by a loss of just over 1 percent on Friday alone. For the week, the index made a high of 49,504 at the open on Monday and a low of 48,762 on Friday.

Typically, the indexes move in the same direction over the course of a day or a week. However, the Nasdaq closed higher this week bucking the trend set by the other two major indexes. It finished 0.51 percent higher to close at 24,960 at the end of trading on Friday. This was an increase of 127 points for the tech-heavy market featuring names such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon.

In international news, Australia announced Tuesday night that its CPI figure went up by 0.4 percent over the past month. This equates to an annual inflation rate of 3.8 percent. On Friday morning, Canada announced that its gross domestic product (GDP) was up 0.2 percent over the past month. This beat projections of 0.1 percent growth following a flat reading last month.

The upcoming week is going to be another interesting one for investors. There will likely be more fallout from the Supreme Court’s plan to end Trump’s tariffs as well as more handwringing about how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the market. As it’s the first week of March, the jobs report should be released on Friday with the ADP releasing its version of the report on Wednesday. The ISM Manufacturing PMI will be released on Monday, the ISM Services PMI on Wednesday and unemployment claims on Thursday as regularly scheduled.

It was another consequential week for market participants as a slew of important data points were released. Gross domestic product (GDP) data for the last month, the Core PCE Price Index and a ruling from the Supreme Court regarding tariffs were announced.

On Wednesday, the FOMC released the minutes from their January meeting. The FOMC was split as to where rates would go in the future with some believing that solid labor numbers justified a pause or even increasing rates. However, others feel that a cooler inflationary environment calls for further rate cuts. It’s likely that the Fed will cut rates at least once or twice this year, but the timing is not yet certain.

On Thursday, unemployment claims data was released. Over the past seven days, 206,000 people filed claims for benefits, which was below the projected 223,000 and below last week’s figure of 229,000.

On Friday, the Core Price PCE Index for December was up by 0.4 percent compared to an expected increase of 0.3 percent. It was also higher than the 0.2 percent reading in November. Also on Friday, it was revealed that GDP growth was estimated to be 1.4 percent in the final quarter compared to an expected 2.8 percent. It is also well below the 4.4 percent growth in the third quarter of 2025.

The services and manufacturing PMI reports were also released Friday morning. Manufacturing came in at 51.2 while services came in at 52.3. Although both figures indicate that these sectors are expanding, they came in below expectations and were both lower than the number recorded in January.

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Trump’s tariff plan was unconstitutional. Specifically, a 6-3 majority ruled that the president lacked the authority to impose tariffs by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Although it’s likely that at least some tariffs will remain in place citing other laws on the books, the president won’t have the broad power he wants to impose them. The Supreme Court’s ruling didn’t address whether companies and other entities that have paid tariffs would be entitled to refunds.

Markets are expected to show more volatility over the next few days as investors digest the tariff news. However, the S&P 500 initially reacted favorably to the ruling as the index finished up more than 40 points on Friday. For the week, the index was up 69 points to close at 6,909, which was a 1.02 percent gain over the last five trading days. The market made its low of the week on Tuesday morning when it dipped to 6,783 and closed near its weekly high.

The Dow was also up on Friday and for the week. Over the past five trading days, the index gained 165 points to close at 49,265, which was a gain of 0.33 percent. The weekly high occurred on Wednesday when the Dow peaked at 49,852 while the weekly low of 49,207 was reached on Friday morning.

Finally, the Nasdaq finished the week up 1.29 percent thanks to a strong showing on Friday. The index finished Friday’s trading at 25,012, which was an increase of 317 points from the start of Monday. The weekly low of 24,417 was reached on Tuesday morning while the weekly high of 25,060 was hit on Friday afternoon.

Next week should be a relatively quiet one with only a couple of important news items on the schedule. On Friday, the latest PPI data will be made public while President Trump gives the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Unemployment claims data will be released on Thursday as usual.