Dow Drops Over 200; GE, Comcast Slide

Stocks tumbled Thursday after a disappointing ISM report on manufacturing piled on to worries about the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 203 points, or 2.1 percent — it’s worst decline since July 2, which was before the summer rally began. The S&P 500 fell 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.1 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management reported its gauge of manufacturing activity fell to 52.6 in September from 52.9 in August, short of expectations.

“This was a good report even if the ‘what have you done for me lately’ crowd tries to trash it,” Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisers, wrote in a note to clients. Still, “it looks like firms are leaning on productivity gains rather than hiring new workers to generate the added production,” Naroff said.

That came after an earlier report showed initial jobless claims jumped by 17,000 last week, much more than expected. And ADP said private employers cut 254,000 jobs from their payrolls in September.

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