Stocks slip on jobs report

Wall Street weakens in early going after the monthly report shows job losses and an unemployment rate that was worse than expected.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slipped Friday morning after a government report showed unemployment surged to a five-year high in August, exacerbating fears about a recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) all declined in the early going.

That followed on the heels of the Dow's 344-point hemorrhage on Thursday as investors reacted to negative jobless claims data and disappointing retail sales figures.

With Friday's dismal news about the job market, no relief is in sight for the economy.

Economy: The Labor Department said Friday the U.S. economy lost a larger-than-expected 84,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate surged to a five-year high of 6.1%, far worse than the forecasts.

A consensus of economists had expected a loss of 75,000 jobs in August and an unemployment rate unchanged from July's 5.7%. The July job losses were revised up to 60,000.

At 10 a.m. ET, the Mortgage Bankers Association will release information on home loan delinquencies for the second quarter.

Companies: Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) is trying to sell all or most of its factories worldwide, possibly within the next 18 months, as revamps its production model, The Wall Street Journal reported. The computer manufacturer's stock has plunged 19% since Aug. 28, when it reported a 17% dive in net income for the second quarter.

International markets, oil, currency: The European and Asian markets were down, spurred by declines on the U.S. market on Thursday. The U.S. dollar was up versus the euro and the British pound, but down versus the yen

Oil was down 3 cents a barrel to $107.86 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the slowing economy reduced demand for energy. Oil has fallen more than $40 since its high of $147.27 a barrel on July 11.

Gas prices also continued their decline, to a $3.674 per gallon of unleaded, according to the motorist group AAA's fuel gauge. The price is down 44 cents from the record high $4.114 a gallon on July 17.  To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.