Indexes dove in early trading but recovered much of their losses by late morning. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36 points, recovering from an earlier loss of 166.

Now that a default in U.S. debt has been averted, investors are becoming increasingly focused on the poor state of the U.S. economy. Shortly after the market opened, the Institute of Supply Management said its index measuring the service sector of the U.S. economy grew in July at the weakest pace in 17 months. Economists had expected a slight increase.

The report was the latest sign that the U.S. economy may be slowing. Over the last week, investors have reacted to a decline in consumer spending, a slowdown in manufacturing, and news that the U.S. economy grew at a paltry rate of just 1.3 percent in the April-June period, well below what economists were expecting.

“There has been too much at the same time for investors to hang in there and you’re starting to see some element of panic finally showing up,” said Andrew Goldberg, U.S. market strategist at JP Morgan Funds.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,830 in late morning trading. The S&P 500 was down 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,251. The Nasdaq composite fell 2, or 0.1 percent, to 2,667. All three indexes had been down more than 1 percent earlier.

The S&P 500, the most widely used measure of the stock market, is headed for its eighth straight day of losses. It is down 7.6 percent since July 22. The last time the S&P had eight consecutive losses was in October 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. That slump was far worse, erasing 22.9 percent of the index’s value.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to another low for the year of 2.57 percent, from 2.62 percent Tuesday, as investors moved money into assets that hold up better during economic downturns. Gold, another traditional safe haven, rose nearly 2 percent to $1,671 an ounce.

Companies that depend most on an expanding economy in order to make profits had the steepest losses. Chevron Corp. fell 2 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow average, followed by Exxon Mobil Corp.

Several large U.S. companies reported earnings before the market opened. MasterCard rose nearly 6 percent after the company beat analysts’ estimates. Clorox fell 2 percent after the company said higher commodity costs were eating into its income.

Payroll processor ADP said private companies added 114,000 jobs last month. The number was within Wall Street’s forecasts, but still well below the rate of growth that signifies a healthy jobs market. ADP’s employment figures do not always predict the government’s broader employment report, which will be released Friday morning. Last month, for example, ADP reported that private employers added 157,000 jobs in June. The government later said that private companies added just 57,000 jobs.

Economists expect that 90,000 were created in the U.S. last month. That’s fewer than the 125,000 jobs per month that are needed just to keep up with population growth. At least 250,000 jobs need to be created every month to substantially bring down the unemployment rate.

Analysts predict that the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in July, unchanged from the month before.

A report that consumers cut their spending in June for the first time in nearly two years led to a broad sell-off on the stock market Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 33 points, or 2.6 percent, turning the widely used market indicator negative for the year. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 266 points, or 2.2 percent.

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