US stocks seesawed on Friday as Wall Street assessed the crucial monthly jobs report amid market uncertainty driven by President Trump's volatile trade policy .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down roughly 0.2% after flipping between positive and negative territory. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 0.4%, with the broad-based index on pace for its worst week in six months. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell over 0.5% after closing in correction territory on Thursday.

US nonfarm-payrolls showed an added 151,000 jobs last month, slightly less than the 160,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%. The stakes were high for February's job report as stocks flounder amid fears of weakening economic growth. Downbeat economic data has boosted bets on interest rate cuts this year.

Markets are now looking to Chair Jerome Powell to throw some light on the Federal Reserve's thinking on Trump's tariffs and the risk of stagflation when he speaks on Friday . His comments will be among the last from Fed officials before their March 18-19 policy meeting.

Trade-war worries are still keeping markets on edge. Trump paused tariffs on most goods from Mexico and Canada. Canada responded with a matching delay in its second wave of retaliatory duties, while Mexico has yet to directly react.

Read more: Trump pauses tariffs on most imports from Mexico, Canada

On the earnings front, Broadcom's stock ( AVGO ) tipped higher in early trading after the US chipmaker issued a strong second quarter forecast , seen as a positive sign for AI demand.