NEW YORK, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks dropped on Friday after the closely-watched monthly jobs data turned out to be disappointing.
The Labor Department（劳工部） said early on Friday that the U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs in December, an improvement from November but far below market expectations.
Meanwhile, the nation's unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 9.4 percent last month, the lowest level in 19 months, but many analysts believed that the drop was partly because people gave up looking for work and wasn't likely to be sustained.
Underscoring the weakness in jobs market, Federal Reserve（联邦储备系统） Chairman Ben Bernanke confirmed Friday that it will take years for unemployment to drop to more normal levels when he was delivering his first testimony to the new Congress.
However, Bernanke did paint a brighter picture for the economy, saying there was more evidence that a "self-sustaining recovery" in consumer and business spending may be taking hold. Adding to the pressure, the U.S. dollar rose against the euro to a four- month high as investors refocused on the debt problems in some euro zone countries.
Portugal, widely considered to be one of the euro zone's most fragile economies, is scheduled to sell up to 1.25 billion euro in debt next week, which is seen as a crucial test of investor confidence. Analysts fear that the market could shun the country's bonds, which would trigger a new round of debt woes.
Financials also dragged the market down after the highest court in Massachusetts found that U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo failed to prove that they owned the mortgages in two cases where homeowners were in foreclosure, raising worries that this ruling could set a precedent for other cases against lenders.
Despite Friday's losses, Wall Street still managed a gain in the first week of 2011. The Dow climbed 0.8 percent for the week, while the broader S&P gaining 1.1 percent.
Investors now are setting their eyes to next week when Alcoa reports its fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Monday, officially kicking off a new earnings season.
As of Friday's close, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 22.55 points, or 0.19 percent, to 11,674.76. The Standard & Poor' s 500 index declined 2.35 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,271.50 and the Nasdaq was down 6.72 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,703.17.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑) |