Concerns about job creation and a slowing U.S. economic recovery pushed the major stock indexes lower in Wednesday's midday trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid almost 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 index fell 1.4 percent. And the NASDAQ dropped almost 1.3 percent.

European stock prices also fell, closing lower.

London's Financial Times index dipped 1 percent to close at 5,929. The CAC-40 in Paris fell 1 percent to end at 3,965. The DAX index in Frankfurt also slid 1 percent to finish at 7,217.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index gained more than one-quarter of a percent to finish at 9,720. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost nearly one-quarter of a percent to finish the day's trading at 23,626.

The price of gold rose more than $10 to trade at $1,546.07 an ounce.

The dollar traded lower against the yen and the euro.