U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as investors digested a batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 558.72 points, or 2.24 percent, to 24,388.95. The S&P 500 fell by 62.87 points, or 2.33 percent, to 2,633.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 219.01 points, or 3.05 percent, to 6,969.25.

U.S. job growth slowed in November amid fears of a possible economic slowdown. Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 155,000 in November, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday.

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

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 three percent at the start of the week. 

Meanwhile, shares of large-cap tech companies declined on Friday, putting pressure on the benchmark indices. Netflix and Amazon traded 6.27 percent and 4.12 percent lower respectively. Shares of Apple fell by 3.57 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its price target, citing weakening iPhone sales.

Energy shares .SPNY fell by 0.6 percent, supported by rising oil prices as Saudi Arabia and other producers in OPEC, as well as allies like Russia, agreed to reduce output to drain global fuel inventories and support the market.

For the week, the Dow fell by 4.5 percent, the S&P 500 slid by 4.6 percent and the Nasdaq dropped by 4.9 percent.

The Dow Jones Transport Average .DJT tumbled by 8 percent for the week, its biggest weekly drop in more than seven years. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell by 5.6 percent, its biggest weekly drop since January 2016.

(With inputs from Xinhua News Agency and Reuters)