Sector Snap: Chemical companies slide

Shares of major chemical companies dropped Thursday after the government said unemployment jumped last month to a 26-year high, sparking concern the recession won't end as quickly as hoped.

The Department of Labor said that employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, a level not seen since 1983.

Economists had expected 363,000 jobs would be lost last month.

That's bad news for chemical makers, who have seen demand for their products drop ever since the recession began more than a year ago.

On Wall Street, shares of Dow Chemical Co. fell 62 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $15.36, shares of DuPont fell 78 cents, or 3 percent, to $25.02, and shares of Ashland Inc. dropped $1.03, or 3.7 percent, to $27.17.

Shares of Westlake Chemical Corp. fell 86 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $20.33, shares of PPG Industries Inc. fell $1.12, or 2.6 percent, to $42.65, and shares of Rockwood Holdings Inc. fell $1.03, or 7 percent, to $13.69.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq and Standard & Poor's 500 indices each fell more than 2 percent.