Stocks decline on jobs report

Stocks posted steep losses Friday, ending the week with broad declines, as investors fretted over a report showing that U. S. job creation slowed last month.

Technology stocks fell especially hard, and shares of LinkedIn had their worst day in history.

Energy and consumer discretionary stocks fell as oil prices declined and investors continued to worry that the risk of the U. S. economy slipping into recession, while low, is growing.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 211.61 points, or 1.3%, to 16,204.97. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index sank 35.40 points, or 1.9%, to 1,880.05, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 146.42 points, or 3.3%, to 4,363.14.

The disappointing jobs report still showed that the U. S. economy is growing, albeit slowly. It caused the dollar to strengthen against other currencies, reversing some of the last two days of declines.

Technology stocks were hit hard by disappointing results from professional social network company LinkedIn and data analysis company Tableau Software. LinkedIn shares dropped 44% after the company provided a weak outlook for 2016 and announced that it was winding down an advertising platform that was supposed to be a new venture.

Tableau Software plunged 49% after reporting a wider- than- expected loss and saying its software license revenue missed analysts’ predictions. Tableau’s dismal results spread to other software companies, such as Salesforce. com, which fell 13%, and Adobe Systems, which fell 8%.

U. S. government bond prices were mostly un- changed. The yield on the benchmark 10- year Treasury note remained at 1.84%.

The dollar rose to 116.89 yen from 116.71 yen. The euro fell to $ 1.1164 from $ 1.1214, inching back from its highest level in three months.

U. S. crude fell 83 cents to $ 30.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 40 cents to $ 34.06 a barrel in London.

Gold edged up 20 cents to $ 1,157.70 an ounce, silver fell 7 cents to $ 14.78 an ounce and copper fell 3 cents to $ 2.10 a pound.