Stocks down on Wall Street after 2 wins, 2 losses this week

April 3 (UPI) -- U.S. markets ended another volatile week Friday with stocks falling in the wake of a Labor Department report that more than 700,000 U.S. jobs were lost last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 388 points, a drop of about 1.8 percent. The S&P 500 lost 43 points (1.7 percent) and the Nasdaq was down 117 (1.6 percent).

The losses followed a near 500-point gain on Thursday. Going into Friday, the bellwether index closed two days with gains and two days with losses this week.

An hour before trading started Friday, the Labor Department reported 701,000 job losses for the month of March and said the historically low unemployment rate had increased almost a full point to 4.4 percent.

The head of the International Monetary Fund on Friday described the current economic climate as a "recession," saying it's "way worse" than the 2008 financial crisis.

"We have witnessed he world economy coming to a standstill. We are now in a recession. It is way worse than the global financial crisis," Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

"This is, in my lifetime, humanity's darkest hour; a big threat to the whole world. And it requires from us to stand tall, be united and protect the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens on this planet."

Georgieva said the IMF has $1 trillion at its disposal to assist the most vulnerable countries. She said at least 90 countries have applied for assistance. She said countries should use the funds to focus on paying doctors and nurses, and purchasing medical supplies needed to fight the pandemic.