The market was already nervous as it waited for the government to release its August employment report on Friday. So news from the nation's major retailers that shoppers curtailed their spending last month due to higher gas and food prices came as a heavy blow.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, beat expectations because of its big discounts, but many teen retailers and luxury chains did poorly, a sign that consumers are spending mostly on essentials and putting discretionary buying on hold.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance rose by 15,000 last week from the previous week. That broadly missed expectations for a fourth-straight week of declines, heightening worries that the average American -- already feeling the effects of the weak housing market -- will have even less means to spend.

The company said it now plans to close 600 company-operated stores in the United States, up from its previous plans to close 100 stores. The company also said it now plans to open fewer than 200 stores in its coming fiscal year.

The Seattle-based gourmet coffee retailer said the company used several criteria in deciding which stores to close, including whether they were profitable or expected to become profitable in the near future. In a statement, it added that "consideration was given to the impact of current and anticipated economic trends."

Starbucks, known for sometimes going so far as to open stores across the street from one another, has recently acknowledged that it may have lost some of its luster during a long period of rapid store openings and expansion into everything from breakfast sandwiches to movie promotions. The company also has been feeling the pinch from a down economy, which has made $4 coffee drinks less palatable for many Americans.

The grim snapshot of the country's employment climate underscored the heavy toll the housing and credit debacles are taking on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.

"It sounds like the recession bell is ringing for the U.S. economy, although it is still faint," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

On Wall Street, stocks tumbled. The Dow Jones lost 146.70 points, a little more than 1 percent to close at 11,893.69. The Dow was down 370 for the last two days of the week.

The worsening situation will prompt the Federal Reserve to cut a key interest rate deeply -- perhaps by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point -- at its next meeting March 18, or possibly sooner, to help brace the teetering economy, analysts predicted.

The shower of pink slips was widespread. Factories, construction companies, mortgage brokers, real-estate firms, retailers, temporary-help firms, child day-care providers, hotels, educational services, accounting firms and computer designers were among those shedding jobs. All those cuts swamped job gains at hospitals and other health care sites, bars and restaurants, legal services and the government.

Zander, speaking to analysts at a meeting in New York, said the move will save the company about $400 million over two years. The cuts from Motorola's workforce of about 70,000 are to be spread across the company globally and completed in the first half of 2007.

The world's No. 2 handset manufacturer also said it will beat Wall Street estimates for 2007 sales by as much as $3 billion, forecasting a full-year total of $46 billion to $49 billion. Analysts had predicted sales of $45.9 billion.

The announcements sent Motorola's stock surging despite a fourth-quarter earnings report that showed profits down 48% from a year earlier on a stumble in operating results from its handset business.

The announcement came after the world's No. 2 handset manufacturer reported that fourth-quarter profit fell 48% despite record sales as operating results stumbled during the key holiday selling season.