Stocks edged lower, pulling the S&P 500 back below 1000 as Wall Street took a wait-and-see approach to Friday's unemployment report, brushing off better-than-expected weekly jobless claims and mixed retail sales.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25 points and other major indexes suffered moderate losses Thursday as worries about the Labor Department's report dominated trading for a third day. A stream of disappointing July sales numbers from major retailers added to Wall Street's uneasy mood.
A recovery in the job market is crucial to the economy's ability to pull itself from the longest recession since World War II. Unemployment often keeps rising after a recovery begins, but investors need to see the pace of job losses slowing before they'll continue the rally that began last spring.
Even with the worries about jobs, the market's slowdown this week isn't surprising. Analysts have been calling for a time-out because the Dow has surged 13.6 percent in just 19 days on hopes the economy is strengthening.
A mixed weekly unemployment report offered investors little encouragement ahead of Friday's numbers. The government said new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 550,000 last week, from a revised 588,000 the previous week. Economists had been looking for 580,000 new claims.
There also was sobering news: The number of people continuing to claim benefits rose by 69,000 to 6.3 million after dropping for three straight weeks.
The weekly jobs figures and the retailers' reports have investors concerned that consumers don't feel confident enough to give the economy a strong recovery. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Ahead of the numbers, the Dow fell 24.71, or 0.3 percent, to 9,256.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5.64, or 0.6 percent, to 997.08, its first finish below 1,000 since Friday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 19.89, or 1 percent, to 1,973.16.
Despite the growing caution in the market, analysts have been encouraged by the orderliness of the pullback, noting that stocks have shown strength in their ability to hold on to most of their gains rather than selling off sharply.
"We're not seeing panic selling," said Bill Groeneveld, president and head trader for vFinance Investments. "We always like to see some reassessment of where we're at."
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 25 points and other major indexes suffered moderate losses Thursday as worries about the Labor Department's report dominated trading for a third day. A stream of disappointing July sales numbers from major retailers added to Wall Street's uneasy mood.
A recovery in the job market is crucial to the economy's ability to pull itself from the longest recession since World War II. Unemployment often keeps rising after a recovery begins, but investors need to see the pace of job losses slowing before they'll continue the rally that began last spring.
Even with the worries about jobs, the market's slowdown this week isn't surprising. Analysts have been calling for a time-out because the Dow has surged 13.6 percent in just 19 days on hopes the economy is strengthening.
A mixed weekly unemployment report offered investors little encouragement ahead of Friday's numbers. The government said new claims for unemployment benefits fell to 550,000 last week, from a revised 588,000 the previous week. Economists had been looking for 580,000 new claims.
There also was sobering news: The number of people continuing to claim benefits rose by 69,000 to 6.3 million after dropping for three straight weeks.
The weekly jobs figures and the retailers' reports have investors concerned that consumers don't feel confident enough to give the economy a strong recovery. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Ahead of the numbers, the Dow fell 24.71, or 0.3 percent, to 9,256.26. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5.64, or 0.6 percent, to 997.08, its first finish below 1,000 since Friday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 19.89, or 1 percent, to 1,973.16.
Despite the growing caution in the market, analysts have been encouraged by the orderliness of the pullback, noting that stocks have shown strength in their ability to hold on to most of their gains rather than selling off sharply.
"We're not seeing panic selling," said Bill Groeneveld, president and head trader for vFinance Investments. "We always like to see some reassessment of where we're at."
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