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North American stocks fell at the start of trading on Friday after a key report on U.S. payrolls missed expectations and pointed once again to a sluggish economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 51 points or 0.4 per cent, to 13,156. The broader S&P 500 fell 7 points or 0.5 per cent, to 1,384. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 74 points or 0.6 per cent, to 11,941.

The declines followed a weak report from the U.S. Labor Department, which showed job gains of just 115,000 in April, well below the 160,000 gains that economists had been expecting. It is also down considerably from job gains in March and February, raising concerns that signs of a stronger economic recovery earlier in the year are starting to fade.

U.S. financials were weak, with Bank of America Corp. down 1.6 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. down 0.9 per cent. Cisco Systems fell 1.1 per cent and Caterpillar Inc. fell 1.8 per cent.

Canadian energy stocks bore the worst of the selloff in Canada: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 3 per cent and Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.7 per cent.

Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.7 per cent.

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