New York ? U.S. stock indexes on Friday fell for a third day, with two of the three major indexes recording weekly losses, as a warning from J.C. Penny Co. weighed and economic data spurred further signs of a recession.

“Personal income and consumption data point toward lower inflation and higher growth,” said Drew Matus, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. “Despite this one bit of good news, we continue to expect tough times ahead,”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 86.06 points Friday to 12,216.40, off 1.2 percent from the prior week’s close.

Of the blue chip’s 30 components, 22 posted losses, with financials including J.P. Chase Morgan & Co. erasing the bulk of earlier gains to close down nearly 0.4 percent.

Other financials on the Dow also fell, with Citigroup Inc. off 4.4 percent and American Express Co. down 3.8 percent.

The S&P 500 shed 10.54 points Friday to 1,315.22, down 1.2 percent from its standing a week ago, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite dropped 19.65 points to 2,261.18, giving it a mild 0.1 percent bump up from where it stood as the week began.

Investors initially bypassed a University of Michigan/ Reuters report of consumer confidence falling to its lowest level since 1992, with the survey’s director citing the data as evidence “a recession has occurred.”

Also Friday there was a first-quarter profit warning from J.C. Penney Co., with the retailer’s CEO saying consumer confidence was at a “multiyear low.”

The scaled-back forecast pressured retail stocks, with the S&P Retail Index off, and J.C. Penney shares down 7.5 percent.