NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled Thursday 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 Fred erick, 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 $7.68 billion, was not enough to offset the impact of the weak 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 workers. That has hurt stocks on some days in recent weeks. It has also raised 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. There has also been a spate of acquisitions announced.
Mergers and acquisitions activity is often considered a positive sign because it means companies are willing to expand their businesses and are confident their prospects are improving.
The Dow fell 144.33, or 1.4 percent, to 10,271.21. All 30 of the Dow stocks fell, only the ninth time that has happened this year.
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.
