Dow tumbles 600 points, dropping below level just prior to pandemic crash

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sunk 600 points on Friday, driven by a disappointing jobs report that sent the index below levels not seen since just before the pandemic-driven crash of early 2020. 

Just over 29,900 at Thursday's closing bell, by mid-afternoon the Dow had fallen to 29,278. That's the lowest the average has been since roughly November of 2020 and just about where the index registered in mid-February of 2020, when pandemic-induced panic struck world markets and send the Dow cratering. 

The steep decline on Friday was likely driven in large part by an underwhelming jobs report, which saw job growth in September decline for the second straight month in a row.

In spite of the slackening job numbers, unemployment last month actually declined to match a 50-year low set earlier in the year. 

Overall economic woes have been exacerbated by inflation, supply chain issues and the Federal Reserve's ongoing aggressive efforts to tamp down the former with raised interest rates.