NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stock markets skidded Friday morning, with major indexes falling below significant milestones, after the government's August jobs report showed a surprisingly high rate of unemployment.
That rate rose to 4.9 percent from 4.5 percent in July, coming in well above the 4.6 percent consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
At 11:22 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 143.10 to 9,697.74. The Nasdaq composite index slid below the 1,700 mark for the first time in five months, sliding 7.85 to 1,697.79. And the Standard & Poor's 500, down 10.63 at 1,095.77, was below its lowest close of 2001.
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