Poor jobs data sends stocks lower

Fresh questions about the strength of the economic recovery sent stocks lower Friday as a disappointing report on job creation weighed heavily on investor confidence. All three major indexes lost ground for the week.

The Labor Department said the economy created 112,000 jobs in June, less than half the number economists expected. After three months of strong job growth, the latest report was a letdown to many investors, though those worried about inflation may have found some consolation in the data, as less jobs means weaker demand for goods and less pricing pressure.

“It’s not like the economy’s going into the tank here, but in comparison the spring was just unusually strong,” said Scott Brown, chief economist for Raymond James. “And now we’ll probably see a lot of volatility this summer as we try to figure out the true strength of the economy and what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates.”

Volume was very light in advance of the Independence Day holiday, with few investors making bold moves in advance of the three-day weekend. The markets were scheduled to be closed on Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 51.33, or 0.5 percent, to 10,282.83.

Broader stock indicators were also modestly lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 3.56, or 0.3 percent, at 1,125.38, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 8.89, or 0.4 percent, to 2,006.66.

For the week, the Dow lost 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.9 percent. It was the third down week for the S&P 500 and the second for the Dow, while the Nasdaq reversed last week’s gains.

With Wall Street expecting 250,000 new jobs for June, the latest jobs data could lead some investors to question whether the economy is slowing down after solid growth in the first half of the year. May’s figure of 248,000 new jobs was revised downward to 235,000 as well.

The nation’s unemployment rate remained steady at 5.6 percent, the Labor Department said, though the number of new jobs in the manufacturing sector, a key barometer of economic growth, dropped by 11,000. Average hourly wages climbed by a less-than-expected 0.1 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume came to 1.32 billion shares, compared with 1.8 billion on Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 0.29, or 0 percent, at 582.72.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average dropped 1.5 percent. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.4 percent, France’s CAC-40 lost 0.8 percent for the session and Germany’s DAX index fell 0.9 percent.