NEW YORK: US stocks sold off for a second straight session on Friday, and the Nasdaq Composite confirmed it was in correction territory after a soft jobs report stoked fears of an oncoming recession.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by 114,000 jobs last month, well short of the 175,000 average forecast by economists polled by Reuters, and the at least 200,000 that economists believe are needed to keep up with population growth. The unemployment rate jumped up to 4.3%, near a three-year high.