Stocks suffered their worst one-day loss in 3 months on Thursday as data on jobs and manufacturing data added to recent lackluster economic figures, fueling fears about the recovery's strength.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 203.00 points, or 2.09 percent, to end unofficially at 9,509.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 27.23 points, or 2.58 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,029.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 64.94 points, or 3.06 percent, to close unofficially at 2,057.48.

For both the Dow and the S&P 500, this was the worst daily performance since July 2. And for the Nasdaq, this was the worst one-day performance since June 22.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)