STOCKS tumbled yesterday after two disappointing economic reports renewed investors' concerns about the pace of the recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 144 points. All the major stock indexes fell more than 1 percent. Interest rates also fell sharply as investors moved back into the safety of Treasury bonds.

The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week and the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region has dropped during August.

"The Philly Fed number was just awful," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. "The jobs number was bad, but not as far off the mark as the Philly number."

The pair of economic reports followed news that Intel Corp. was acquiring McAfee Inc. The deal, valued at US$7.68 billion, was not enough to offset the weaker economic readings.

The reports are the latest in a months-long string of conflicting readings on the economy. The reports have shown the pace of a rebound is slowing and that companies are skittish about adding new workers. That has hurt stocks on some days in recent weeks. It has also stoked fears about the economy falling back into recession.

At the same time, corporate announcements, including earnings reports for the past six weeks, have largely showed companies are doing well. Mergers and acquisitions activity is often considered a positive sign because it means companies are willing to spend money to expand their businesses and are confident that prospects are improving.

The Dow fell 144.33, or 1.4 percent, to 10,271.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 18.53, or 1.7 percent, to 1,075.63, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 36.75, or 1.7 percent, to 2,178.95.

About four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to almost 1.1 billion shares.

Volume has been particularly light in recent weeks, even by summer standards, meaning many investors are still uncertain about the direction of the economy.

Bond prices rose after the weak jobs and manufacturing reports. Investors often move into the safety of government bonds when there are signs the economy is not strong. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.58 percent from 2.64 percent late Wednesday. Its yield is often used to help set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.

Joe Benanti, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities, said low volume likely added to the sell-off.

It's "probably taking trading a little to an extreme, more than it should," Benanti said.

Volume has been reduced not only by summer vacations, but by investors' reluctance to make many big moves amid the uncertainty about the economy.

The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 12,000 to 500,000 last week from an upwardly revised 488,000 a week earlier. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast claims would fall slightly. It was the fourth rise in claims in the past five weeks and sent them to their highest level since November.

High unemployment is considered the biggest hurdle to a stronger recovery because people worried about jobs have scaled back their spending. Consumer spending accounts for the bulk of the country's economic activity.

The Philly Fed manufacturing survey was negative 7.7 for August after a reading of positive 5.1 last month. Economists were expecting the index to rise this month. Any reading above zero indicates growth in the sector.

It was an especially sobering report because manufacturing activity early this year had shown the most consistent signs of growth.

The report is "saying the manufacturing pop has run out of steam," said Jim Peters, CEO of Tactical Allocation Group. The lift the economy got from companies replenishing inventories is over and sales have not picked up enough to maintain those levels, Peters said.

A report on future economic activity also fell short of expectations. The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.1 percent last month after falling a month earlier. Economists had expected the index to rise 0.2 percent.

The index tries to predict economic activity over the next three to six months, so a rise in the index would indicate the economy is likely to grow during the second half of the year.

Chip maker Intel is buying computer-security software maker McAfee in an all-cash deal for US$48 per share. McAfee shares surged US$17.09, or 57.1 percent, to US$47.02. Intel shares fell 61 cents, or 3.1 percent, to US$18.98.

In other corporate news, Sears Holdings Corp. reported its second-quarter loss was cut in half as profit margins improved at its Kmart chain. But revenue at stores open at least a year, a key measure of strength in the retail industry, fell during the quarter. Sears shares dropped US$5.36, of 8 percent, to US$61.89.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)
• uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)
• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
• survey [´sə:vei] vt.&n.俯瞰；审视；测量 (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
• maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持；保持；继续 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
• expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə] n.消费者；用户 (高中英语单词)
• negative [´negətiv] a.否定的 n.否定词 (高中英语单词)
• predict [pri´dikt] v.预言；预告；预示 (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• unexpectedly [´ʌniks´pektidli] ad.意外地；突然地 (英语四级单词)
• uncertainty [ʌn´sə:tənti] n.不可靠；不确定的事 (英语四级单词)
• consistent [kən´sistənt] a.一致的；始终如一的 (英语四级单词)
• retail [´ri:teil, ri´teil] n.&a.&v.零售(商品的) (英语四级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)
• offset [´ɔ:fset] n.&vt.抵销；补偿 (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• reluctance [ri´lʌktəns] n.不愿；勉强 (英语六级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)