Unemployment Data Rattle Wall Street

Elsewhere, General Electric (GE Quote) said it would sell its warranty-management business to insurance company Assurant (AIZ Quote) for $140 million.

Cigarette maker Altria (MO Quote) is in negotiations to purchase chew-tobacco producer UST (UST Quote), according to a report on CNBC's Web site.

Contributing to bearishness in the sector, mobile-phone maker Nokia (NOK Quote) was also hurting after saying its market share would probably decline in the third quarter.

Separately, a Wall Street Journal report said that PC maker Dell (DELL Quote) is trying to sell its computer factories in a bid to remain competitive.

As for earnings, video-game maker Take-Two (TTWO Quote) said Thursday after the close that it swung to a profit from a year ago and raised guidance. And ahead of the opening bell, chipmaker National Semiconductor (NSM Quote) reported a profit that rose year over year but its sales outlook disappointed, sending shares lower.

In commodities, the price of crude oil was unchanged at $107.89. Gold was adding $18.40 to $821.60.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were higher. The 10-year was up 7/32 to yield 3.6%, and the 30-year was up 11/32, yielding 4.24%. The dollar was gaining on the euro, but softening vs. the yen and pound.

Major foreign exchanges, including the FTSE in London, the Dax in Frankfurt, the Nikkei in Japan and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong, were lower.