Markets fall following weak U.S. jobs report

Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. fell Friday as investors became concerned about the U.S. economic recovery.

The drop left the market with a slim gain on the week, but the benchmark S&P/TSX composite index is still about 18 per cent above the level it was at a year ago.

A weaker than expected U.S. jobs report Friday led U.S. indexes to open below Thursday's close. Despite a much stronger report for Canada, the Toronto market followed the U.S. markets down, although the loss was muted.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down34.3 points at 13,371.7.

In New York, the Dow Jones was down62.29 at 12,657.2 and the Nasdaq was down 12.85 points at 2,859.81.

Energy issues were weak as the futures price of a barrel of oil fell $2.47 US or more than two per cent to $96.20 US a barrel.

Energy and metals both fell with the fear that the economic recovery was slowing.

Gains over a year

Despite Friday's falls, the markets all rose over the past five sessions. The TSXwas up 71 points from June 30, the final trading daylast week before the July 1 Canada Day holiday.

The Dow is up about 75 points, and Nasdaq about 43.

Over the past year, the TSX has added more than 2,000 points, for an 18 per cent gain. The Dow is up 24 per cent and Nasdaq 31 per cent.