Investors Fret Over Glowing Jobs Report

Wall Street, which began the holiday-shortened week with a bang, ended the week with a whimper Friday as investors fretted over prospects for higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 44.83 to 7,822.41 after the government reported that the unemployment rate inched to a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent from a near 24-year low of 4.8 percent a month earlier.

Wall Street at first cheered, but some analysts pointed to signs of strength in the report and predicted Fed policy-makers would increase short-term interest rates, if not at their Sept. 30 meeting, then at their subsequent meeting Nov. 12.

In other reports this week:

The Conference Board reported that its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3 percent to 104.1 in July, exceeding expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

The Commerce Department reported construction spending rose 0.5 percent in July, reflecting gains in single-family homes and factories.