Awwal 29, 1432 H/March 4, 2011, SPA -- Stocks fell Friday as worries about another jump in oil prices overshadowed a solid report on the U.S. job market, AP reported. Crude oil rose more than 1 percent to trade above $103 a barrel, its highest level since September 2008. Markets have been rattled over the past two weeks as the surge in oil prices threatened to undermine the U.S. economic recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 59 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,199 in late morning trading. The S&P 500 index is down 8, or 0.7 percent, at 1,322. The Nasdaq composite index is down 11, or 0.4 percent, to 2,787. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 323 points over three days last week as the conflict in Libya deepened. News on the U.S. labor market was encouraging. The Labor Department reported that employers added 192,000 jobs in February, in the range of what economists expected. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.9 percent from 9 percent the previous month. The rate has dropped for three months in a row and is now at its lowest level since April 2009. -- SPA
