On Monday, stocks finished off the month with a loss following news that Spain’s economy shrunk again for a second consecutive quarter. Still, the Dow managed to end the month with its seventh consecutive monthly gain. May started on an up note on Tuesday, with the Dow once again hitting a four-year high on good manufacturing news. On Wednesday the major indexes finished mixed, as a report indicating that private-sector job growth seems to be slowing dampened buyers’ enthusiasm. On Thursday, stocks fell once again in anticipation of Friday’s US employment report. The selling accelerated on Friday, as the employment report failed to meet expectations. While the unemployment rate slipped down to 8.1%, this decline was mainly due to workers leaving the work force rather than an increase in the number of new jobs.

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