Dismal US job figures prompt stock selloff in shortened week

New York - US stocks plunged Thursday after worse-than-expected monthly jobless figures suggested the country's worst recession since the 1930s is still going strong.

The dismal trading session capped a shortened week on Wall Street. US markets will be closed Friday ahead of US Independence Day celebrations on July 4.

The US economy shed 467,000 jobs in June, and the jobless rate climbed to 9.5 per cent, its highest level since 1983, the US Labour Department reported. Economists had predicted 365,000 jobs would be lost, hoping June would mirror a dramatic improvement in May.

President Barack Obama called it a "sobering" sign that the country's deep recession is not over.

"While there are continuing signs that the recession is slowing, obviously this is little comfort to all those Americans who have lost their jobs," Obama said in Washington.

The US economy has now lost 6.5 million jobs since a deep recession began in December 2007, the worst 18-month stretch since 1939.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 223.32 points, or 2.63 per cent, to 8,280.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slumped 26.91 points, or 2.91 per cent, to 896.42. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 49.2 points, or 2.67 per cent, to 1,796.52.

The US currency rose against the euro to 71.43 euro cents from 70.67 euro cents on Wednesday. The dollar fell against the Japanese currency to 95.91 yen from 96.64 yen.//DPA