Stocks got off to a strong start on Friday after the release of a weaker than expected jobs report but turned sharply lower as the day wore on, ending the week with deep dive.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by around 559 points, a 2.24 percent decline. The Nasdaq Composite was off by 3.05 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 2.3 percent. All three indexes are down 4 percent or more for the week.

Investors began the day on an optimistic note after the government reported the economy created just 155,o00 jobs in November, lower than the 190,000 expected. This created hope that the Federal Reserve would slow the pace of its interest rate hikes next year, perhaps even holding back from a widely expected hike later this month.