Dow skid is longest since 2008

NEW YORK - A disappointing jobs report sent stocks falling Friday and gave the Dow Jones industrial average its longest losing streak since the worst days of the financial crisis.

The Dow dropped 46 points Friday for its seventh straight loss and its longest slide since October 2008. The Dow and other major indexes posted big losses for a second straight week.

Investors found new reason to worry that the economic recovery is losing momentum after the government said private employers added only 83,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 112,000 analysts had forecast.

Light trading ahead of the long Independence Day weekend brought choppy moves, particularly in the final hour. The Dow was essentially flat in the last five minutes before sliding just before the close.

Pessimism has been growing since late April about the health of the global economy. Debt problems in Greece and other European countries gave way to concerns about the pace of the U.S. recovery. The Dow dropped 10 percent for the second quarter, which ended Wednesday, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 11.9 percent.

"Clearly there is a loss of momentum," Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors, said about the recovery. He said the slide in stocks could hurt the economy by eroding confidence. Still, he said a double-dip was unlikely in part because incomes were ticking higher and consumers were slowly boosting spending. "We just don't see the typical things that start another recession," Baur said.

The Dow fell 46.05, or 0.5 percent, to 9,686.48, its lowest close since Oct. 5, 2009. The Dow hasn't fallen for seven straight days since an eight-day loss that ended Oct. 10, 2008.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.79, or 0.5 percent, to 1,022.58.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 9.57, or 0.5 percent, Friday to 2,091.79.

For the week, the Dow fell 4.5 percent. The S&P 500 index lost 5 percent, while the Nasdaq dropped 5.9 percent.

The coming week could bring more insight into the economy if companies begin to drop hints about their earnings and forecasts. U.S. markets are closed Monday in observance of Independence Day. Tuesday brings a report on services businesses, which make up the biggest chunk of the economy.