--- description: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 231 points, or 1.4 percent, on Thursday. title: Dow Jones Drops for Fourth Straight Day image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee5bf536f2aafe2/6986855a06f2c15a5c32ddcb/dow-jones-stocks-fall.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Markets](/tag/markets/) ## Markets Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Dow Jones Down for Fourth Straight Day as Stocks Fall  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 7:07 PM CUT  Trader Kenneth Polcari works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, March 13, 2014\. Stocks opened higher as traders were encouraged by a pickup in retail sales and more signs of health in the U.S. job market. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Trader Kenneth Polcari works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, March 13, 2014\. Stocks opened higher as traders were encouraged by a pickup in retail sales and more signs of health in the U.S. job market. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Richard Drew—AP  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2014 7:07 PM CUT Stocks [slumped](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/03/13/stocks-thursday/6361469/ "undefined") Thursday amid tension in Ukraine and concerns of an [economic slowdown](http://time.com/22924/why-there-is-good-news-in-the-bad-news-on-chinas-economy/ "undefined") in China, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling for the fourth consecutive day. The Dow was down 231 points, or 1.4 percent, at close. After early gains, it fell nearly 300 points over the course of the day. The S&P 500 was down 1.2 percent, and Nasdaq was down about 1.5 percent. The dive came despite some good economic news Thursday morning. The Labor Department said unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 last week, to 315,000, in a sign that the job market was picking up, and the Department of Commerce said retail sales in February rose 0.3 percent, beating forecasts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23721/dow-jones-poised-for-fourth-straight-drop-as-stocks-fall/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23721/dow-jones-poised-for-fourth-straight-drop-as-stocks-fall/"},"headline":"Dow Jones Down for Fourth Straight Day as Stocks Fall","datePublished":"2014-03-13T19:07:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:45:34.983Z","description":"The index ended down for the fourth straight day amid tension in Ukraine and concerns of an economic slowdown in China, with the Dow dropping 231 points, or 1.4 percent, at close, and the S&P down 1.2 percent","url":"https://time.com/23721/dow-jones-poised-for-fourth-straight-drop-as-stocks-fall/","keywords":["Markets","stocks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee5bf536f2aafe2/6986855a06f2c15a5c32ddcb/dow-jones-stocks-fall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcee5bf536f2aafe2/6986855a06f2c15a5c32ddcb/dow-jones-stocks-fall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trader Kenneth Polcari works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, March 13, 2014.","caption":"Trader Kenneth Polcari works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, March 13, 2014.","creditText":"Richard Drew—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/markets/","name":"Markets"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/23721/dow-jones-poised-for-fourth-straight-drop-as-stocks-fall/","name":"Dow Jones Down for Fourth Straight Day as Stocks Fall"}}]}] ```