Stock Market Has Worst Weekly Drop in Months as Tariffs Hang Over Wall St.

The stock market suffered its worst week in many months, after a series of dizzying policy shifts on tariffs from the White House amid simmering concerns about the health of the economy.

The S&P 500 seesawed throughout the day on Friday, marking a volatile end to a turbulent week, as investors parsed the latest employment data and comments from the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, about the direction of interest rates.

Even though the index ended the day with a gain, the S&P 500 notched its third consecutive week of losses with a drop of 3.1 percent, its sharpest weekly decline since early September.

There has been a sharp mood shift since the index hit a record high less than a month ago, as investors have become worried about the trajectory for economic growth, made worse by tariffs on imports from the country’s largest trading partners. Surveys have also showed mounting concern among consumers.

On Friday, investors appeared to take solace from Mr. Powell’s comments after he struck a positive tone, saying “despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the U.S. economy continues to be in a good place.” He reiterated the Fed’s commitment to keep rates steady as it works to bring down inflation. Another positive sign on Friday came from the labor market. With 151,000 jobs added in February, the data showed a pace of hiring moderate enough to temper fears about resurgent inflation, yet robust enough to avoid exacerbating worries about a slowing economy.

Lara Castleton, U.S. head of portfolio construction and strategy at Janus Henderson Investors, said the jobs data would probably ease “overly sour expectations” about the economy. “After confidence on the economy has taken a turn,” she said, “market participants were looking to either confirm or reverse that sentiment.”