North American markets fell Friday, as economic news on both sides of the border had investors feeling bearish.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 76.20, or 0.72%, to 10,550.51.

Volume was 198 million shares.

Statistics Canada reported the unemployment rate edged up 0.1% to 6.8% in July. There were 5,900 jobs created in July, below economists’ expectations of between 20,000 and 25,000.

On supply worries, light, sweet crude for September delivery rose US93¢ to close at US$62.31 a barrel, breaking the previous settlement high record of US$61.89 a barrel set Tuesday.

Though the energy sector fell by 0.19%, it still managed to outperform the other nine major indices, which all dropped by greater rates.

The information technology group fell 1.44%. Nortel Networks lost 10¢, or 3.03%, to close $3.20 and Research in Motion dropped 69¢, or 0.99%, to close $68.96.

The heavily weighted financials sector was pummelled for the third-straight session, down 0.96%.

Great West Life Co shares fell 72¢, or 2.36%, to close $29.83.

IGM Financial Inc. said Friday it boosted net earnings 10% to $167.9 million in the second quarter on strong mutual fund sales. Gross revenues for the period ended June 30 were $579.2 million, compared to $523.5 million in the prior-year period. IGM shares gained 11¢, or 0.27%, to close $41.00.

CIBC said it has agreed to pay US$250 million to Enron to settle the bankrupt company’s claims against the bank.

It’s the second settlement the bank has announced this week, though much smaller than the US$2.4 billion it agreed to pay on Wednesday to settle litigation with Enron’s shareholders.

CIBC stock fell 6¢ to US$71.69 Friday, bringing the loss for the week to $8.32.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 5.31, or 0.29%, to finish 1,832.11.

In New York, better than expected employment numbers gave rise to inflation worries and fears the US Federal Reserve would be led to raise rates

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 52.07, or 0.49%, to 10,558.03; the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.41, or 0.61%, to 2,177.91; and the S&P 500 index dropped 9.44, or 0.76%, to 1,226.42.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls grew by 207,000, above expectations. However, the unemployment rate held steady at 5% as more workers entered the labor force in search of jobs last month.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.8%, the Nasdaq declined 0.3% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.6%.