US STOCKS-Job woes, Nokia fallout hit Wall St
Reuters* U.S. data shows more labor market decline
* Jobless rate jumps to nearly 5-year high
* Nokia's warns on outlook for mobile phones
* Dow off 0.8 pct, S&P 500 down 1 pct, Nasdaq off 1.1 pct
(Updates to midmorning)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a fifthstraight day Friday as a government report showing furtherdeterioration in the U.S. labor market added to worries aboutthe profit outlook and the impact of the housing slump on theeconomy.
The news the unemployment rate soared to 6.1 percent lastmonth -- nearly a five-year high -- from 5.7 percent in Julydiminished investors' appetite for riskier assets and drovethem toward safe-haven government debt.
Declining stocks included diversified manufacturer 3M, down 1.4 percent. Chip makers also slid after Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, warned on itsmarket share outlook.
Qualcomm, off nearly 2 percent, was the top dragon Nasdaq, followed by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, down more than 3 percent. Investors alsosold-off shares of energy companies. Exxon Mobilwasdown 1.4 percent on signs a global economic slowdown would meanless demand for energy.
The Labor Department said 84,000 jobs were lost in August,up from the 75,000 economists had expected. June and July joblosses were also revised up.
"I think a lot of this jobs number has to do withdislocations in certain parts in the economy," said OwenFitzpatrick, head of U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank PrivateWealth Management in New York.
"I think this slowdown/recession is largely being led byissues within the finance industry and the fact that thecommodities base was driven so high by global demand."
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 89.64 points,or 0.80 percent, to 11,098.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexfell 12.03 points, or 0.97 percent, to 1,224.80. TheNasdaq Composite Index dropped 23.87 points, or 1.06percent, to 2,235.17.
The slide on Wall Street, coming after Thursday's sell-off,meant the S&P was close to retesting its July 15 low, havingwiped all of its gains since then. Barring a late recovery, thethe S&P 500 appeared on track to notch its worst week sinceJanuary.
Shares of 3M fell to $69.03 while International BusinessMachines Corp declined 0.5 percent to $114.38.
On Nasdaq, Qualcomm shares fell to $47.85, while ResearchIn Motion declined to $103.85. Analysts say technology is amongsectors most vulnerable to a global slowdown due to exposure tooverseas markets.
Texas Instruments, a chip maker, was anothercasualty of the Nokia warning, falling 1.3 percent to $22.12 onthe New York Stock Exchange.
Exxon Mobil shares fell to $75.07 as U.S. crude dropped$2.44 to $105.46 a barrel.
Merrill Lynchshares dropped 2 percent to $25.70after Goldman Sachs cut the investment bank to a "sell" andsaid it will likely incur additional write-downs for souredmortgage investments. (Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by KennethBarry)