US shares fall as job market worries intensify

Wall Street shares ended lower for the second consecutive day after data showing a steep drop in private sector payrolls fuelled increased jitters on the economic outlook.

Wall Street shares ended lower for the second consecutive day after data showing a steep drop in private sector payrolls fuelled increased jitters on the economic outlook.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 30.23 points (0.31 per cent) in final trades to 9,711.97 in a roller-coaster session yesterday.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.62 points (0.08 per cent) to 2,122.42 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 3.75 points (0.35 per cent) to a provisional close of 1,056.86.

The key stock indices however ended way off their intra-day lows, especially the Dow which lost more than 100 points at one stage.

The market was unmoved by a government report that the economy shrank at a revised 0.7 per cent pace -- better than the previous figure of a 1.0 per cent decline -- in the second quarter.

The new figure was stronger than the 1.2 per cent decline predicted by most analysts and the hefty 6.4 per cent in the first quarter.

The market instead focused on a larger-than-expected drop in private sector payrolls and depressing data on midwestern manufacturing activity.