Stocks are plunging at the opening of trading on news that the U.S. economy added no new jobs last month. Treasury yields fell and gold rose.
The jobs report was the weakest in almost a year. It renewed fears that the U.S. might slip back into recession.
A strike by 45,000 Verizon workers lowered the job totals. Those workers are back on the job. Private employers added 17,000 jobs. Without the Verizon strike the total would have been 62,000.
Ten minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 245 points, or 2.1 percent, at 11,248. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 27, or 2.3 percent, at 1,176. The Nasdaq composite index is down 56, or 2.2 percent, at 2,490.