Bank stocks lost ground but were not punished too severely on the news Friday that unemployment had topped 10%.
The KBW Bank Index fell 0.23%, ending the week up 1.44%. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.17%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index, 0.25%.
The Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 10.2%, its highest since April 1983. Economists on average had expected an increase to 9.9%.
"Over recent economic recoveries, job gains have lagged, and this cycle is no different," economists at Wells Fargo Securities wrote in a note Friday. "This pattern will last for the rest of 2009 and persist into spring of next year — especially for private-sector jobs."
Decliners included JPMorgan Chase & Co., off 0.9%; Bank of America Corp., 0.5%; Wells Fargo & Co., 0.6%; U.S. Bancorp, 1%; SunTrust Banks Inc., 1.7%; Fifth Third Bancorp, 0.5%; Zions Bancorp., 1.6%, and Regions Financial Corp., 6 cents a share, to $4.75.
Citigroup Inc.'s stock price was unchanged from Thursday's close of $4.06 a share.
The gainers included PNC Financial Services Group Inc., 1.6%; KeyCorp, 3.8%, and Comerica Inc., 1.4%.
