NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell on Friday to close at their lowest level in 19 months after a report showed that employers unexpectedly shed jobs at the steepest rate in nearly five years, standing as confirmation for many investors that the United States is in recession.The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 146.70 points, or 1.22 percent, to end unofficially at 11,893.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slid 11.01 points, or 0.84 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,293.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 8.01 points, or 0.36 percent, to close unofficially at 2,212.49.For the week, the Dow was down 3.0 percent, the S&P fell 2.8 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.6 percent.(Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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