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Stocks are taking a huge hit this morning after the U.S. economy lost jobs for the first time in four years during August. Employers cut 4,000 workers in August, while economists were expecting a gain of around 100,000. This news was very unexpected to everyone on wall street and stocks are certainly responding very negatively to this news. The fear now is that the Federal Reserve may already be too far behind the curve and that the economy is sinking into a recession. The Dow is currently down by 220 points, the Nasdaq by 55, and the S&P by 25.

All the major sectors are down by a large amount, but those sectors with the most exposure to the consumer are being hit the hardest. General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) currently leads the Dow lower, down by 4.38% on the day. Apparel high-flyer Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq:CROX) is down by 2.72% thus far today.

The basic materials sector that was so strong yesterday is being hit hard today. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) currently trades lower by 5.04% to lead the aluminum stocks lower. BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) trades lower by 3.52%, after yesterday being a big gainer.

The technology sector is taking a beating today, and the move lower is being led by several high-profile technology stocks. Intel Corporation (NYSE:INTC) is falling by 2.91% on the day. Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) is down by 3.66% in a very weak semiconductor group. Tech stocks which have recently hit their 52 week highs are being hit pretty hard today. Research in Motion Limited (Nasdaq:RIMM) shares are down by 4.1% on the day so far. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) shares are trading lower by 3.47%. NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq:NVDA), which has been one of the strongest Nasdaq stocks in the past couple of months, is shedding 5% of its value today.

Transportation stocks are also very weak today as fears of a slowdown in the economy hit these companies hard. CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) shares are lower by 4.12%. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) is dropping by 2.01% so far on the day as the air courier sector is lower across the board.

The internals of this market are very weak. Decliners lead advancers 82% to 16% on the NYSE, and 82% to 15% on the Nasdaq. Down volume is 91% of the total volume on the NYSE and 92% of the total volume on the Nasdaq. Volume is not particularly strong, and is running about in line with most of the days this week.

Today's terrible job number is leading to many questions regarding the economy and the FOMC meeting upcoming on September 18th. There are some who now believe that the Fed may cut rates before the 18th. There are also plenty who believe that the Fed should cut by 50 basis points now in its meeting on the 18th.

Coming into the day today, most felt that a weak jobs number would be looked upon favorably by the markets, since that would make it more likely that the FOMC would move to cut rates on the 18th. No one was expecting a number as weak as they got, and the market has been jolted by the prospects of a possible economic recession upcoming. A slightly below expectations payrolls number may have been good for stocks, but this number was a horrible one. I haven't said much about what I believe the FOMC should do prior to this, but after this number, if the FOMC doesn't move to cut interest rates this economy is in trouble.