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Wall Street tumbles after grim August jobs report

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US employment growth ground to a halt last month, government says

msnbc.com news services

updated 2 minutes ago

NEW YORK Wall Street tumbled at Fridays opening bell amid concerns about the U.S. economy following a downbeat employment report for August. The Dow Jones industrial average was down over 180 points in the early going. Employment growth ground to a halt in August with U.S. nonfarm payrolls unchanged for the month, the government said Friday. Nonfarm employment for June and July was revised to show 58,000 fewer jobs, while the jobless rate held steady at 9.1 percent.

Story: US economy created no job growth in August, data show

Analysts said the lousy jobs data will likely keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to provide more monetary stimulus to aid the struggling economy. Europe was also a concern for investors. Confirmation that Greece will miss its 2011 deficit target of 7.6 percent and uncertainty over Italy's commitment to austerity measures underscored unease about the single currency zone, prompting investors to shy away from riskier assets. European stocks fell 1.7 percent after rising so far this week, while emerging stocks dropped 0.7 percent following a five-day rally. U.S. crude oil prices sank as traders bet on an economic slowdown. Talks between Greece and international inspectors on a new aid tranche were put on hold, after a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday that Greece expects its 2011 budget deficit to reach 8.1 to 8.2 percent of GDP. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told Italy's struggling center-right government to deliver on its promised austerity package, adding to international pressure on weakened premier Silvio Berlusconi. ECB support is vital because the bank has been buying Italian bonds in markets to keep yields low enough for Rome to continue borrowing without external aid.

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09/02/2011 10:08 AM

Wall Street tumbles after grim jobs report - Business - msnbc.com

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The euro lost a quarter percent to a three-week low around $1.4207. "It's hard for the euro to go down very fast against the dollar given expectations for more monetary easing in the U.S. But if we continue to get worst-case scenarios panning out in the euro zone it will have to go lower," said Adrian Schmidt, currency strategist at Lloyds Banking Group. The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies.

Market Movers
Most Active Name Bank of America Corp. Boston Scientific Corp. Host Hotels & Resorts Inc The Gap, Inc. America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. Interpublic Group of Compan... CapitalSource Inc GenOn Energy Inc Western Union Co. Developers Diversified Real... Quotes delayed 15+ min. Top % Gainers Top % Losers Price Change Exchange: NYSE Change%

7.91 6.72 11.70 16.03 25.56 8.21 6.32 3.13 16.54 12.10

-0.26 -0.06 -0.13 -0.49 +0.00 -0.42 -0.03 +0.09 +0.02 -0.28

-3.18% -0.88% -1.10% -2.97% +0.00% -4.87% -0.47% +2.96% +0.12% -2.26%

19,003,002 14,788,049 13,779,716 12,146,125 9,699,926 9,440,600 8,934,482 7,946,431 7,920,938 7,877,106

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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