NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing lower after another spike in oil prices overshadowed a report that the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly two years.
Crude oil rose to more than $104 a barrel Friday after fighting in Libya intensified. Oil prices are now at their highest level since September 2008.
The Labor Department said that the unemployment rate dipped in February to 8.9 percent.
At the market close, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 88 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,169. The S&P 500 is down 10, or 0.7 percent, to 1,321. The Nasdaq composite is down 14, or 0.5 percent, to 2,784.
Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 1 billion shares.
