NEW YORK, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks posted extended weekly losses as fears of a possible economic slowdown rattled investors.

For the past week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 4.5 percent, the S&P 500 erased 4.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 4.9 percent.

Stocks had seen volatile trading during the week as investors grew concerned about the pace of economic development as well as interest rate hikes.

The U.S. three-year treasury note yield surpassed its five-year note on Monday. The inverted yield curve caught investors' attention because historical statistics showed that when short-term yields trade above longer-term rates a recession could follow.

Anxiety around a potential yield curve inversion sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note to 2.858 percent on Friday. The yield was above 3 percent at the start of the week.

Soft economic data also stoked investors' worries.

U.S. job growth slowed in November with total non-farm payroll employment increasing by 155,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent.

Job gains occurred in health care, in manufacturing, and in transportation and warehousing, said the department.

U.S. trade deficit increased 1.7 percent to 55.5 billion U.S. dollars in October, hitting a 10-year high, as soybean exports continued to decline and imports of consumer goods increased largely, according to the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The non-manufacturing index rose to 60.7 in November as services sectors continued to expand, according to the data released Thursday by the Institute for Supply Management.

In corporate news, Toll Brothers reported weaker-than-expected quarterly guidance from Toll Brothers.

The U.S. leading builder reported its first fall in quarterly orders in more than four years, hit by rising interest rates and higher home prices.

The company's results are the latest evidence of slowing housing demand, after years of steady recovery following the housing crash a decade ago.

The U.S. Census data showed new home sales declined for 11 straight months.

According to BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, which on Tuesday issued its outlook for the global markets and economy in 2019, the housing market is no longer a tailwind for the U.S. economy. The bank said housing sales have peaked and home price appreciation is forecast to slow.

The outlook forecast that real U.S. GDP growth will stand at 2.7 percent in 2019, slowing in the second half of the year as the effects of fiscal stimulus begin to fade.

Analysts said given the market concern over economic growth trajectory, Federal Reserve's next move will be under the limelight.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said on Monday that interest rates are approaching neutral, but the concept of neutral rate can be less useful after the economic conditions become more normal.

Fed officials estimate the neutral rate of interest is from 2.5 to 3.5 percent, according to Quarles.

Asked whether rate hikes would end sooner rather than later, Quarles said it was not clear about exactly how much further interest rates would rise.

"Where we will end up in that range will depend on the data we receive and our assessment of the performance of the economy over the course of next year," he noted.

Neutral interest rate, a notion that is driving the Federal Reserve's attitude toward the normalization of U.S. monetary policy, means a level neither stimulative nor restrictive to the economy. Enditem

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