New York - US stocks absorbed heavy losses Friday, weighed down by economic concerns as unemployment rose to a two-year high, capping the worst opening week for the stock market in many years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has seen its worst start to the year since 1904, while technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index has been dealt its biggest loss since opening in 1971, according to Bloomberg News.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said the jobless rate reached 5 per cent in December as employers added only 18,000 jobs, compared to additions of more than 100,000 in previous months. Unemployment stood at 4.7 per cent in November and 4.4 per cent in December 2006.
US President George Bush, after a meeting with his economic advisors Friday, said financial markets remained "strong and solid" but acknowledged "some uncertainty" over the latest economic reports.
"There are signs that require us to be ever more diligent," Bush said. "This economy of ours is on a solid foundation but we can't take economic growth for granted."
The blue chip Dow shed 256.54 points or 1.96 per cent to 12,800.18. The indicator has dropped three of the last four days.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 plunged 35.53 points, or 2.46 per cent, to 1,411.63, capping its worst start since 2000.
The high-tech Nasdaq lost 98.03 points or 3.77 per cent to 2,504.65, led by heavy declines at Apple Inc and Intel Corp.
The US dollar fell to 67.81 euro cents from 67.84 euro cents on Thursday, and to 108.65 Japanese yen from 109,54 yen.
Gold dropped 3.40 dollars to 865.70 dollars per fine ounce.
