NEW YORK - WALL Street slid on Thursday after a government labour report underscored a weak labour market that could hinder prospects for recovery from a brutal recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 138.98 points (1.63 per cent) in opening trades to 8,365.08.

The Nasdaq fell 33.13 points (1.79 per cent) to 1,812.59 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad market index dipped 15.68 points (1.70 per cent) to 907.65.

The market opened on a sour note ahead of a long weekend after the Labour Department reported that US employers shed 467,000 jobs in June, pushing the unemployment rate to a fresh 26-year high of 9.5 per cent.

Analysts had expected a smaller number of 365,000 job losses, but a higher unemployment rate of 9.6 per cent. The jobless rate in May was 9.4 per cent.

'The June payroll report presents lousy economic news in virtually every respect,' said Mr Patrick O' hare of Briefing.com.

'It is so bad that it could undermine hopes that an economic rebound is not too far away simply because other economic series have showed a slowing rate of decline,' he said.

The monthly labour report is one of the best indicators of economic momentum.

The report is 'doing little to soothe concerns on Wall Street that the road to an economic recovery may be bumpy and longer than the recent rally in equities in second quarter had suggested', analysts at Charles Schwab & Co said in a note to clients. -- AFP