NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street headed for the worst week since September 2001 on Friday, after the U.S. government reported the economy cut jobs for the eighth straight month in August and at a faster-than-expected pace.
The U.S. Labor Department said payrolls shrank by 84,000 in August, more than the 75,000 that economists had predicted, and also higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate surged to a five-year high of 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent.
The report gnawed at investors worrying the economy is continuing to weaken and will hardly recover during the second half of the year.
Moreover, investors are also concerned about a downgrade of Merrill Lynch. Goldman Sachs cut the third largest U.S. Securities firm to a "sell" rating on expectations it will incur fresh write-downs of 5.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, tumbled over 10 percent, after the company said it is losing market share.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery dipped 1.64 dollars to 106.25 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid concerns about global economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones fell 86.55 to 11,101.68. Broader indexes also traded lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.14 to 1,223.69; and the Nasdaq dipped 29.53 to 2,229.51.
