By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the S&P 500 index sustaining its worst weekly hit this year, after the government said the far fewer Americans found jobs in March than analysts had estimated.

"Welcome back to tempered expectations. We don't think the wheels have fallen off the economy, but we don't think it ever had the momentum that some people believed," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.

"That's what makes for market corrections," he added.

Payrolls increased by 88,000 last month following a revised 268,000 gain in February, with the disappointing report following two others this week that also cast a negative view on the labor market.

"We can now add the monthly employment report to the growing list of data points that simply haven't met expectations," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC in New York, said in emailed comments.

After falling 171 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) recovered the lions share of its losses to end at 14,565.25, down 0.3% for the session and 0.1% for the week.

Eighteen of the blue-chip index's 30 components lost ground, including Alcoa Inc. (AA), which unofficially starts the first-quarter earnings-reporting season on Monday, after the market close.

Down 1% for the week, its largest weekly loss since December, the S&P 500 index (SPX) declined 6.7 points, or 0.4%, to 1,553.28, with technology companies hardest hit and utilities the best performing of its 10 major sectors.

F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) plummeted 19% a day after projecting second-quarter earnings and revenue well below consensus estimates.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) lost 21.12 points, or 0.7%, to 3,203.85, with the technology-heavy index off 2% for the week, its biggest weekly drop since the week ended Nov. 9, 2012.

Decliners ran just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 726 million shares traded. Eastern. Composite volume approached 3.4 billion.

The recent series of less-than-hoped for economic reports increases the odds that the Federal Reserve will stay the course and continue its monthly purchases of $85 billion of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities.

The jobs number "is truly disappointing and suggests we're a long way from the normalized growth the Fed in particular seems to be striving for," said McCain.

The Fed's bond-buying program, along with measures from other global central banks, are among the forces that have helped drive up the price of equities this year, with the S&P 500 up 8.3% for the year.

Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday as investors cheered a massive stimulus program announced by Japan, helping it brush aside downbeat news on jobless claims. The Bank of Japan's move to begin on a course of record easing had it lining up with the policies of the U.S. central bank, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

Stocks in Japan extended a rally on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 index finishing up 3.5% for the week on the heels of the unprecedented stimulus. The dollar (USDJPY) stretched its climb versus the Japanese yen, though the greenback posted losses against most other major currencies following the weak jobs report.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-05-13 1622ET