DOW - Some pull back but no triple digits losses!

Dow 12,657.20 -62.29 -0.49%

By: JeeYeon Park
CNBC.com Writer

Stocks ended lower Friday following a dismal government employment report, but still closed higher for the second week ahead of the widely-anticipated earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62.29 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 12,657.20, clawing back from its session lows.

The S&P 500 slipped 9.42 points, or 0.70 percent, to end at 1,343.80.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 12.85 points, or 0.45 percent, to finish at 2,859.81, snapping a eight-day winning streak.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished near 16.

Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, according to the Labor Department, well below economists' expectations for a 90,000 rise from a Reuters survey. The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest since December 2010, from 9.1 percent in May.

Many economists raised their forecasts on Thursday after a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. private hiring from payrolls processor ADP, and expected gains of anywhere between 125,000 and 175,000.

"This number is horribly disappointing and ridiculously bad!" said Todd Schoenberger, managing director of LandColt Trading. "The monthly jobs figure continues to frustrate Americans and the short-term outlook appears to be dire considering there is no credible plan for job creation presented by the administration."

"Today, risk is off for investors and could very well remain that way into the fall," Schoenberger added. (Read More: 'Horrific' Jobs Report Renews Fears of Double-Dip Recession)

“[The numbers are] certainly disappointing, but it’s not the end of the world,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “It’s still evidence of a slow patch, but the economic news we had from retail sales and manufacturing suggest that things will improve a bit into the second half.”

Gold prices jumped nearly 1 percent as investors piled into the precious metal as a safe haven. However, oil declined in volatile trade with U.S. light, sweet crude falling $2.47 to settle at $96.20 a barrel and London Brent crude near $118. The dollar tumbled against a basket of major currencies.