U.S. market skid continues Friday

U.S. markets turned lower for the second consecutive day Friday after the Labor Department said unemployment rose in September to 9.8 percent.

The department said 263,000 jobs were lost in the month. The report was issued the day after the Dow Jones industrial average lost 203 points on a spate of shaky government reports.

The Commerce Department reported a spike in consumer spending prompted by a federal rebate program for car buyers. With the program concluded, automakers said vehicle sales plunged in September.

In early afternoon trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was off 5.67 points or 0.06 percent to 9,503.61. The Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 1.81 or 0.18 percent to 1,028.04. The Nasdaq composite index shed 0.16 or 0.01 percent to 2,057.32.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 6/32 to yield 3.2 percent.

The euro rose to $1.459 compared with Thursday’s $1.4519. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 89.66 yen from Thursday’s 89.78 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 2.47 percent, 246.77 points, to 9,731.87.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 1.17 percent, 59.11 points, to 4,988.70.