Stocks retreat on unemployment data

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NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A lousy federal report on employment plunged U.S. stock indexes into the red Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 253.08 points or 2.2 percent to 11,240.49.

The Nasdaq shed 65.71 points or 2.58 percent to fall to 2,480.33.

The Standard & Poor's 500 declined 30.46 points or 2.53 percent to 1,173.96.

The U.S. Labor Department Friday reported the U.S. economy didn't add any jobs in August and the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent.

"The jobs number adds weight to the notion that we've been in a recession for four to five months," Jerry Harris, president and chief investment officer at Sterne Agee Asset Management, told The Wall Street Journal.

The listed volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 3.65 billion shares, with 2,590 stocks declining and 445 advancing.

The 10-year treasury note was yielding 2.01 percent.

The euro fell to $1.4197 Friday from $1.4271 Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 76.77 yen from 76.81 yen Thursday.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei Average closed at 8,950.74, off 110.06.

In London, the FTSE closed at 5,292.03, off 126.62.