Stocks are heading lower this afternoon as weak data from the ISM non-manufacturing report has investors on edge ahead of Friday’s jobs data. Growth in the service sector fell to 53.5 in April from 56.0 in March according to the ISM non-manufacturing report.

There was some good news today as weekly claims for jobless benefits fell 27,000 to 365,000. Economists were expecting claims to fall to 380,000. Tomorrow’s jobs report will be closely watched by everyone on Wall Street. Estimates call for 170,000 new jobs, up from March’s 120,000.

The Dow is currently down 64 points, the Nasdaq is down 34 points and the S&P 500 is down 10 points. [Read more...]