NEW YORK — Stock indexes fell Friday following mixed news from the Labor Department's monthly employment report.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped below the 10,000 line.
Concerns about mounting debt problems for European governments weighed on the market again. Stocks had tumbled around the world Thursday as worries about the global economy deepened, and the Dow and other major indexes were headed for their fourth straight weekly loss.
The government's closely watched jobs report said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in January to 9.7 percent from 10 percent, even though analysts expected an uptick.
At the same time, however, employers cut 20,000 jobs, more than the 5,000 economists expected, according to Thomson Reuters. The two numbers are calculated from different surveys.
Timothy Speiss, head of Eisner LLP's Personal Wealth Advisors group, said the improving unemployment rate was a good sign, but investors are well aware that the problems in the economy that have stocks falling in recent weeks are still there.
"There will be excitement, relief about the number," Speiss said. "But we need to keep going."
