The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that stocks dropped sharply on Friday, and U.S. Treasury yields fell significantly after a weak jobs report shook investors' confidence in the economy amid new tariffs on trading partners. The Globe's Darcy Keith writes that after the weak jobs report, President Donald Trump ordered the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' top official claiming, without evidence, that job numbers were manipulated for political reasons. The jobs report indicated a sharp decline in labour market conditions, raising expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September, with money markets now assigning an 85-per-cent chance of a quarter-point cut, up from under 40 per cent a day earlier. Rate futures are now pricing in more than 50 basis points of easing over the course of this year. The Fed has held rates steady since December. A cut in rates would give the job market and economy a boost, but it could also risk fuelling inflation, which is hovering stubbornly above the Fed's 2-per-cent target. Stocks were under pressure Friday morning ahead of the jobs data release, as investors worried about the global trade and economic impact of new tariffs announced by Mr. Trump.