Stocks are facing another rough opening this morning after a round of bad news from the U.S. tech sector.

EMC Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and BMC Software Inc. all either issued earnings warnings or made disappointing announcements.

On the economic front, the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in June, as 114,000 jobs were lost in the month. The numbers drove stocks a little lower, although traders remain more worried about profits..

In Canada, labour market conditions were reported little changed in June. The unemployment rate held steady at 7% for the fourth consecutive month, and employment remained virtually unchanged, down 13,000 jobs. In the first half of 2001, employment growth was 0.2%, much slower than the 1.2% pace recorded in the last six months of 2000.

In June, average hours worked per week held steady at 33.9, down from 34.5 at the start of the year. Employment in construction edged up 8,000. Another 10,000 jobs were added in professional, scientific and technical services. Manufacturing lost 11,000 jobs, and 6,000 workers left the natural resources business.

In Europe, stocks are down on the profit fears in tech land. Analysts are downgrading Nokia Oyj, Alcatel SA and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Also, Sweden’s central bank raised interest rates to curb inflation. The FTSE is down 74 points to 5,476. The CAC 40 has dropped 87 points to 5,036. The DAX is down 71 points to 5,928.

Overnight in Asia, stocks also slid hard on profit worries. The Nikkei dropped 301 points to close the week at 12,306. In Hong Kong, the market was closed.

In other news, Canadian Crude Separators Inc. says that the conditions to its offer to acquire Newalta Corporation were not met, and as a result, CCS has decided to terminate its offer.

Certicom Corp. announced that its board has approved a voluntary stock option exchange program to be offered to employees near the end of July.