Stocks are up on Wall Street after a solid report on the jobs market last month that didn’t come in too hot. The government reported that hiring slowed last month, which is exactly what policymakers want to happen in order to cool off inflation. 

The S&P climbed 51 points to 4,018, gaining 1.3% as of 10:44 a.m. Eastern time, while the Dow rose 332 points, or 1.1% to 31,998. The heavy-tech Nasdaq was up 1.4% after a slight dip earlier.

Investors awaited figures on August hiring for an update on how the economy is responding to four earlier interest-rate hikes to cool inflation that is near a four-decade high. A strong reading would have given ammunition to Fed officials who say higher interest rates are needed to slow economic activity and reduce upward pressure on consumer prices.

But employers added 315,000 jobs, down from about 520,000 last month and in line with economists’ expectations — a thankful lack of surprises that investors found reassuring. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% from 3.5% as more people came off the sidelines to look for work and were counted as unemployed.

“The downtick in employment growth in August may be a sign that the Federal Reserve’s policies are starting to have an impact,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a note.

The benchmark ended August with a 4.2% loss after surging the previous month on expectations the Fed might ease off rate hikes due to signs U.S. economic activity was cooling and inflation might be leveling off.

Those hopes were dashed last week when Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed needs to keep rates elevated enough “for some time” to slow the economy. The only question for many investors is how much and when the next hike will be.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported unemployment claims fell last week in another sign of a strong job market. It said earlier this week there were two jobs for every unemployed person in July.

The Dow finished up 0.5% on Thursday, while the Nasdaq slid 0.3%.

China on Thursday ordered most residents of Chengdu, a western city of 21 million people, to stay home following a fresh coronavirus outbreak. The area is recovering from power rationing after a drought depleted reservoirs for hydroelectric dams, but economists said earlier that the national economic impact should be limited because the region’s industrial output is a small part of China’s total.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.47 to $88.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.