Jobs Report Helps Sink Market Again

Stocks fell Friday, giving Wall Street its third losing week in the last four. The losses came after the government said US employers cut 701,000 more jobs than they added last month, the first drop in nearly a decade and just the start of a dismal jobs period ahead. US stock indexes held steady at first, then headed lower after the price of oil lost some of its momentum, per the AP. The Dow fell 360 points to 21,052, the S&P 500 fell 38 points to 2,488, and the Nasdaq fell 114 points to 7,373. All three losses were under 2%.

Such losses would be striking during a normal market, but since the market began selling off in mid-February, the average down day for stocks has brought an even steeper loss of 3.8%. “It shows that markets have already factored in dismal economic numbers for at least the next few weeks,” said Peter Essele, head of portfolio management for Commonwealth Financial Network.

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