A jump in unemployment sent stocks sharply lower Friday as investors feared that Americans won't soon deviate from their tightened budgets. The Labor Department's much-anticipated report showed employers cut 524,000 jobs in December, a smaller decline than the loss of 550,000 jobs economists forecast. But the unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent _ more than the 7 percent economists predicted _ from 6.8 percent in November.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 143.28, or 1.64 percent, to 8,599.18.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 19.38, or 2.13 percent, to 890.35.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 45.42, or 2.81 percent, to 1,571.59.

For the week:

The Dow is down 435.51, or 4.82 percent.

The S&P is down 41.45, or 4.45 percent.

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The Nasdaq is down 60.62, or 3.71 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is down 177.21, or 2.02 percent.

The S&P is down 12.90, or 1.43 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 5.44, or 0.34 percent.

(This version CORRECTS yearly losses for S&P, Nasdaq.)