Stocks sank lower on Friday as investors weighed two fresh readings on the health of the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 900 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped about 3% and 3.5% lower, respectively.

Friday's declines led to Wall Street suffering its worst week in months, with the Dow falling 4.6% for its 10th weekly loss in the past 11 weeks, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 5% and 5.6%, respectively, for their worst week since January.

Here's how the market settled to close out the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -2.91% or -116.96 points to 3,900.86

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -2.73% or -880.00 points to 31,392.79

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -3.52% or -414.20 points to 11,340.02

Inflation unexpectedly rose in May:

Inflationary pressures accelerated further in May, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading offering another view on the extent of price increases across the U.S. economy.

The month's CPI unexpectedly accelerated to an 8.6% annual increase, according to the institution's report published Friday, following April's 8.3% rise. May's print marked the biggest gain since late 1981, and exceeded the prior 41-year high reached in March's CPI increase of 8.5%.

On a month-over-month basis, CPI rose by 1.0%, up from April's 0.3% increase. Meanwhile, core CPI--which excludes volatile food and energy prices--rose 6.0% on an annual basis, a tick down from April's 6.2% increase.

Consumer sentiment drops to lowest level in early June:

Consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level ever recorded in early June as outlooks were impacted by rising food and gas prices.

The University of Michigan's preliminary June consumer sentiment index fell to 50.2, marking the lowest ever reading since the institution started tracking the data. This print followed May's final reading of 58.4.

"The consumer sentiment declined by 14% from May, continuing a downward trend over the last year and reaching its lowest recorded value, comparable to the trough reached in the middle of the 1980 recession," said Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, in a press statement.

"Consumers' assessments for their personal financial situation worsened about 20%," Hsu added. "Forty-six percent of consumers attributed their negative views to inflation, up from 38% in May; this share has only been exceeded once since 1981, during the Great Recession."

Hsu also said that half of all surveyed consumers mentioned gas unprompted in their interviews, up from 30% in May.

Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -1.73% or -69.64 points to 3,948.18

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -1.59% or -513.18 points to 31,759.61

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -1.87% or -219.70 points to 11,534.53