Stocks dip over concerns about job numbers

Stocks wobbled lower on Friday as Wall Street questioned whether the U.S. job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way.

- By Stan CHOE

THE CONSTRUCTION industry reportedly lost 7,000 jobs in August. The U.S. added only 22,000 jobs.

After rising to an early gain, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3% below the all-time high it set the day before. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 220 points, or 0.5%, after swinging between an early gain of nearly 150 points and a loss of 400. The Nasdaq composite edged down by less than 0.1%.

The action was more decisive in the bond market, where Treasury yields tumbled after a report from the Labor Department said U.S. employers hired fewer workers in August than economists expected. The government also said that earlier estimates for June and July overstated hiring by 21,000 jobs.