Triangle technology stocks are shedding value Friday after the latest economic news hit the markets.

With U.S. unemployment not improving and more warnings emerging about Europe’s economies, investors responded by selling off shares, especially in the tech sector.

  • Red Hat (NYSE) fell 6.6 percent.
  • Citrix (Nasdaq: CTXS) dropped 7.6 percent.
  • NetApp (Nasdaq: NTAP) dropped 4.8 percent.
  • Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) declined 2.6 percent.
  • IBM (NYSE: IBM) slipped 2 percent
  • EMC (NYSE: EMC) fell 4.6 percent
  • Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) dipped slightly at 1 percent.

Overall, technology shares dropped the most among S&P 500 groups, erasing 2 percent at one point during the day..

The government’s previous employment report on June 1 showed the weakest jobs growth in a year, and sent the S&P 500 down 2.5 percent for its biggest drop of 2012. 

“It confirms the view that the U.S. economy is slowing,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Harris Private Bank in Chicago, which oversees about $60 billion of assets. “We are creating jobs at about less than half the pace in the second quarter than we did in the first quarter, either because of influences from abroad or seasonal adjustments.”

Equities fell as Labor Department figures showed payrolls rose 80,000 last month after a 77,000 increase in May. Economists projected a 100,000 gain, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The unemployment rate held at 8.2 percent. Private employment, which excludes government agencies, increased 84,000 in June, the weakest in 10 months.

‘Disappointing Report’

“On balance it’s a mildly disappointing report,” Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC which manages about $54 billion, said in a phone interview. “It’s hard for investors to get overly enthused about it unless in this bizarre world you believe this number gives the Fed more impetus to step up with QE3,” he said, referring to another round of stimulus action by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed has already purchased $2.3 trillion of securities in two so-called quantitative-easing programs. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, speaking at a June 20 Washington press conference, said the Fed is focusing “primarily” on the outlook for jobs in deciding whether to ease further, and more action would be needed without “sustained improvement in the labor market.”

(Bloomberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)