The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) tumbled almost 2 percent. The broader S&P 500 (INX) index lost around 2.5 percent. The Russell 2000 (RUT.X) small-cap index fell 3.2 percent.
The Nasdaq (COMPX) composite lost 3.8 percent, or just over 98 points. According to Stock Trader's Almanac, it was the tech-heavy index's biggest one-day point loss since Sept. 17, 2001, the first day the market reopened for trading after having been closed in the aftermath of 9/11. On that day, the Nasdaq lost 115.83 points.
A weaker-than-expected unemployment rate sparked a big stock selloff. Bonds rallied, as investors sought safety and the dollar fell versus other major currencies. Oil and gold prices retreated from recent records.
Employers added 18,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, short of forecasts for 70,000 and down from a revised 115,000 in the previous month. The 18,000 figure marked the weakest monthly jobs growth since August 2003.
The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, rose to 5 percent - a more than two-year low - from 4.7 percent in the previous month. Economists thought it would rise to 4.8 percent.
Average hourly earnings, the report's inflation component, rose 0.4 percent after rising a revised 0.4 percent in the previous month. Economists thought wages would rise 0.3 percent.
Stocks have been volatile for months as investors have mulled the fallout from the housing and credit market crises, and worried that the economy could be heading into recession.
cnnmoney.com
