Wall Street was substantially lower in midday trade Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.56 percent lower to 13,155.25, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.86 percent to 2,565.73 and the S&P 500 was down 1.45 percent to 1,457.08.
The decline came after the Labor Department reported that there were 4,000 fewer jobs in August, the first time in 4 years that the number of jobs has dropped.
Some analysts believe that the new data seals the case for a drop in interest rates in September, even though the unemployment rate was reported to have remained at 4.6 percent.
Investors were also worried by comments from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who compared the current state of the markets to conditions ahead of the 1987 “Black Monday” crash.
There were declines in a variety of sectors.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) was $1.20 lower to $29.85 after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) cut the auto maker’s target share price from $42 to $37 reduced its earnings estimates through 2009.
In a related sector, motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) dropped $5 to $49.09 after it said its earnings will drop by 4 to 6 percent in 2007.
Aluminium producer Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was down $1.55 to $34.95, while chipmaker Intel fell 75 cents to $25.40.
There were some gainers on the session. Citigroup (NYSE: C) was up 19 cents to $45.85. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was up 1 cent to $54.67.