With the value of stocks dropping more than 2 percent on Wall Street on Friday, bond yields fell to record lows in the United States and Europe as investors cast around for refuge from the euro zone debt crisis and a weak global economy.


The sense of risk in the world’s investments was so acute that in some cases traders were parking their money in places that delivered no promise of a return at all.


On Friday, United States 10-year Treasury yields reached a new low of about 1.46 percent after an unexpectedly grim Labor Department report showed a net gain of 69,000 jobs in May and an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent, up from 8.1 in April. At the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average had slumped 275 points, or 2.2 percent.


At the same time, there was bad employment news from Europe, which is grappling with a sovereign debt crisis. Eurostat, the European statistical agency, said the jobless rate in the 17-nation euro zone reached 11 percent in March and April, the highest since the start of the data in 1995.


Ten-year bonds in some of the European countries seen as relatively safe, such as Germany and Britain, also fell to record lows. The German bund dropped to 1.171 percent, while the British gilt was down to 1.529 percent.


“What it tells you is investors are anxious and are willing to forego a lot of potential return for the ability to park their money with what they perceive to be high quality, safe governments,” said Jerry H. Tempelman, an analyst in the capital markets research group of Moody’s Analytics.


The 10-year yields also fell to record lows in Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and France, he said. In some cases, the yields were so low that the rate guaranteed them no real return at all if current inflation rates continue, he added.


Even without inflation, yields on German two-year notes dipped below zero on Friday, meaning investors felt safer taking a guaranteed loss than in holding other securities.


The goal of investors now, Mr. Tempelman said, is more to preserve their capital than to lock in profitable rates of return.


“People are very risk-averse right now,” he said. “These are all countries where investors think that public finances are in reasonably good shape.” 


In contrast, borrowing costs for Italy and Spain, which have become the center of attention in the European debt crisis, were far higher. They rose earlier in the week but then declined Friday. Italy’s 10-year bond was down 15 basis points to 5.711 percent and Spain’s fell to 6.459 percent.


The jobs report should have provided “something of a distraction for the markets, which have had a single-minded focus on the devolving European situation,” wrote Guy LeBas, the chief fixed-income strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott, in a research note.


“Unfortunately, that distraction was extremely disappointing from an economic perspective and is essentially throwing gasoline onto an already raging risk-off fire in the capital markets.” 


The unemployment news hit financial markets just as stocks recorded their worst monthly performance this year, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index ending May more than 6 percent lower, while United States Treasury yields have fallen to record low levels.


The S.&P. 500 was down 2.5 percent at the close of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 2.2 percent, a day after shedding a net 820 points in May, its worst monthly showing since the same month in 2010. And the Nasdaq fell 2.8 percent. The three indexes were down about 3 percent this week.


The day’s decline pushed the Dow negative for the year so far, or down 0.8 percent, while the S.&P. 500 was still ahead about 2 percent for 2012 and the Nasdaq was up 6 percent.


As an indicator of future volatility, the VIX, officially known as the CBOE Volatility Index, was up to 26, its highest level so far this year. But that is still less than half its level in late 2008-early 2009 as the financial crisis emerged.


“Uh oh — reintroducing recession call?” said the headline of an economic commentary by Dan Greenhaus, the chief global strategist for BTIG, a financial services firm. “Today’s employment report, in the context of every other development, certainly reintroduces that possibility.”


Outside of the United States, stock markets fell further after the jobs figures were released. The Euro Stoxx 50 index closed down 2.4 percent, while the CAC 40 in France fell 2.2 percent. Stocks in Germany dove, with the DAX down 3.4 percent for the day.


Analysts said investors were grappling with the data that showed economy activity was slowing down in the core and periphery countries of the euro zone while leaders struggled to keep cash-strapped governments and the banking system afloat.


Petr Zemcik, director of European economics for Moody’s Analytics, said he was “a little surprised” to see the drop in stocks. although Germany’s macroeconomic data has recently been mixed and the top loser among stock sectors on Friday was automobiles, suggesting that the market may be starting to price in a potential hit to exports. In addition, financial stocks in Germany slumped.