NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Stocks declined early Friday as investors made a measured response to a surprisingly weak jobs report amid other recent signs that the economy is recovering.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 22 points, or 0.2%, with Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) the major drags.

The S&P 500 index (SPX) lost 3 points, or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 4 points, or 0.2%.

The blue-chip Dow managed gains Thursday on a surge in financial shares and signs of improvement in the retail sector. But the broader market was mixed ahead of the jobs report.

Following Monday’s big rally, stocks have been mixed to lower all week, with investors showing reluctance to move after the major gains of 2009 and ahead of the jobs report.

Although the economy appeared to turn a corner in the fourth quarter, market participants are looking for further signs of stability before they push stocks a lot higher. In particular, still-high unemployment and sluggish consumer spending remain a worry.

Economy: The government reported that employers cut 85,000 jobs in December, a much worse showing than expected.

A consensus of economist opinions from Briefing.com showed that expectations were flat ahead of the report. This was changed, shortly before the release, from a consensus expectation of a loss of 35,000 jobs.

Also, the government upwardly revised its figure for November to a gain of 4,000 jobs, from the previously reported loss of 11,000 jobs, snapping a 22-month run of declines.

The unemployment rate, calculated by a separate survey, held steady at 10%, as expected.

After the open, a report was predicted to show wholesale inventories fell 0.3% in November, according to Briefing.com consensus, after rising by the same amount in the previous month.

A separate government report is expected to show consumer credit fell by $5 billion in November, according to Briefing.com consensus, after dropping by $3.5 billion in October.

World markets: Asian markets ended higher. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.1% and the German DAX lost 0.5%.

Commodities and the dollar: The dollar tumbled versus the euro and the yen.

Dollar-traded gold inched higher. COMEX gold for February delivery gained 80 cents to $1,134.50 an ounce. Gold closed at an all-time high of $1,218.30 an ounce last month.

U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 55 cents to $82.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, further retreating from 15-month highs hit earlier in the week.

Bonds: Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.81%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Talkback: With the economy in recovery mode and a new year underway, what’s your 2010 plan for your portfolio? Will you invest more, less or not at all? Are you willing to take on more risk? E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be featured in an upcoming article.

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