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10B Daily News – Saturday, May 5, 2012 Furniture Depot 235 So. Main St., Red Bluff 527-1657 SAT. 9:00-5:00 • SUN. 11:00-5:00 MON.-FRI. 9:00-6:00 NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks plunged Friday after the government reported that hiring slowed sharply last month. The report con- firmed investors' fears that the U.S. economic recovery may be faltering. The losses in the market were widespread. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 168 points and the Nasdaq composite had its worst day since Nov. 9. Both the Nas- daq and the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed out their worst weeks of the year. The Dow had its sec- ond-worst. Treasury prices rose as investors dumped risky assets and moved money into lower-risk investments. Energy stocks were among the hardest hit after the price of oil fell below $100 a bar- rel for the first time since February. Only one of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, utilities, which investors tend to buy when they're nervous about the economy. The dollar and U.S. below $100 since February 13. ''The jobs numbers were a disappointment,'' said Phil Orlando, chief equity strate- gist at Federated Investors. It was the third straight daily loss for the Dow, but it's too early to know if it's the start of a correction in the market. Even after its 1.4 percent decline this week, the Dow is still up 6.7 percent this year. Investors are on edge about Europe once again as France and Greece both hold elections over the weekend. In France the socialist candidate Francois Hollande has a chance to unseat the incumbent Nico- las Sarkozy, who has been at the forefront of fashion- ing Europe's efforts to pre- vent its share currency from collapsing. Crude oil plunged $4 to $98.49 a barrel on worries that demand would drop because of a weakening world economy. It was the first time oil has dropped week was a stark contrast to Monday, when the Dow closed at its highest level in more than four years, pro- pelled by a report that showed a pickup in manu- facturing. All that became a distant memory after a slew of poor economic reports were released the rest of the week. The late slump in the On Thursday major retailers including Costco and Macy's reported that April sales inched up less that 1 percent, the worst per- formance since 2009. Thursday also brought news that U.S. service companies expanded their business more slowly in April. The Dow closed down 168.32 points, or 1.3 per- cent, at 13,038. All 30 com- panies that make up the index fell, led by Bank of America and Cisco. 2.2 percent, to 2,956. For the week, the S&P lost 2.4 percent, the Nasdaq 3.7 percent. ary. The yield on the bench- mark 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.88 percent from 1.92 percent late Thursday as demand increased for safe invest- ments. The yield hasn't set- tled that low since early February. The S&P 500 fell 22.47 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,369, while the Nasdaq index fell 67.96 points, or first few months of the year were marked by a number of abnormal conditions including an uncharacteris- tically warm January and February. That led to a spurt in hiring which usually occurs in spring. Orlando noted that the The culprit for the dis- tress in financial markets was a report from the Labor Department Friday showing that U.S. job growth slumped in April for a sec- ond straight month. The 115,000 jobs added in April and the 154,000 in March were down form an average of 252,000 a month from December through Febru- 50-60% off Fri, Sat & Sun - May 11, 12 & 13 Fri, Sat & Sun - May 4, 5, & 6 Also next Hiring slowdown sends the stock market reeling Wall Street some sales that would have normally occurred in April. ''The surge in hiring and spending that usually occurs in March through April, occurred earlier in the year this year,'' said Orlando. ''We have to wait for eco- nomic numbers from May and June to get a better idea of the underlying strength of this economy.'' Retail sales and hiring were also affected by an earlier Easter, which fell on April 8 this year, 16 days earlier than last year. That pushed some retail sales ahead to March, leaving April's numbers weaker than they might have been. Retailers also blamed a late Mother's Day for pushing some sales out of April and into May. Unusually warm weather in February and March also pulled forward dropped over 6 percent after the clothing maker lowered its 2012 forecast and said that its first-quarter net income fell, hurt by the weak European economy. — Aon Corp. fell almost 6 percent after the insurance broker reported first-quarter net income fell 3 percent due to higher costs and unfavorable currency exchange rates. — LinkedIn Corp. rose 7 percent after announcing late Thursday that its first- quarter profit more than doubled, topping expecta- tions. The social network- ing company also announced an acquisition. energy company stocks turned lower in response. Southwestern Energy Co. fell 7 percent and Marathon Oil Corp. fell 3 percent. In other trading: — Warnaco Group Inc. After the price of oil fell, No Interest option with Regular Monthly Payment or *18 month *9.90% APR with 2.0% Monthly Payments Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date. If the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period. Or if you make a late payment.* 527-5828 Cal. Lic. #233456 *The Visa® credit card is issued by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. Special terms apply to purchases charged with approved credit at participating merchants until [05-31-2012]. The minimum monthly payment will be the amount that will pay for the purchase in full in equal payments during the promotional period. Interest will be charged to your account from the pur- chase date at the regular APR if the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period or if you make a late pay- ment. For newly opened accounts, the regular APR is [26.59%]. The APR may vary. The APR is given as of [04-01-2012]. If you are charged interest in any billing cycle, the minimum interest charge will be $1.00. If you use the card for cash advances, the cash advance fee is 5% of the amount of the cash advance, but not less than $10.00. 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