Last week was a rough one for U.S. stocks.

The markets started off the week posi tive, pushed upward by positive corporate earnings, but retreated the last three days to close at a low point, hammered by a disappointing jobs report and renew ed fears about a stuttering economic recovery. The S&P lost 2.44% its worst week ly performance this year, while the Dow lost 1.44% and the Nasdaq fell 3.68%.[1] The weeks sell off began on Wednesday when the latest ADP Employment Report usual ly released before the official Labor Department report suggested that employmen t had improved by less than expected. The news was confirmed on Friday when the official numbers showed that employers had added just 115,000 jobs in April, fal ling well short of the expected 170,000 new jobs. Although the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1%, we cant get excited about it because the fall is primarily due to job-seekers giving up their job search. If we see continued slowness in the job market, it is possible that the Federal Reserve will step up efforts to boos t the economy again. Since inflation is still well below the danger zone, the Fe d still has room to take action. Solid corporate earnings have provided a breath of fresh air, showing that busin ess is still humming along. First-quarter earnings among companies in the S&P 50 0 are currently at 7.8%, well ahead of expectations. However, companies are fore casting a much slower second quarter, a sign that executives are bracing for dec lining sales.[2]Analysts believe that a warm March and an early Easter may have shifted sales to March, cutting into second quarter revenues. Please also keep i n mind that companies often sandbag their forecasts in order to artificially bea t expectations when the official earnings are posted. Last weeks poor market performance and disappointing jobs report reminds us that our economy and investors nerves are still recovering. Just as an injured person w ho undergoes a major surgery will have good days and bad days while recovering, so our healing economy will experience ups and downs