Stocks, unemployment fall

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 630 points Friday following release of September's jobs report showing U.S. unemployment fell two-tenths of a percent amid expected new Federal Reserve action to raise interest rates to stem inflation.

U.S. unemployment stands at 3.5%, a sign of a strengthening jobs picture even as Fed analysts predict another 75-basis point hike in lending rates in November.

If such action is announced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, it will be the fourth such move this year.

The Fed has raised short-term borrowing costs faster this year than at any time since the 1980s "to take the heat out of the economy and ease price pressures," wrote Reuters News Agency.

State and local

Missouri's jobless rate in August stood at 2.5%, the latest figure available from the state Department of Labor and Industry.

Locally, the most recent jobless numbers available are from July, with Cape Girardeau County's rate at 2.7%; Scott County at 3.1%; and Perry County at 2.2%.

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