Jobs report helps propel stocks

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks jumped Friday after the government’s employment report showed fewer jobs were cut in February than expected.

Major stock indexes climbed more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 122 points to add to strong gains for the week. Treasury prices slid as demand for safe havens eased.

The Labor Department’s monthly report is seen as the most important measure of the economy’s health. A drop in unemployment is necessary for the economy to make a sustained rebound.

The better-than-expected jobs report helped push oil and other commodities higher on expectations that demand for resources would increase as the economy strengthens. That helped energy and material companies like ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

Meanwhile, Apple Inc. shares reached a new high after the company said its iPad tablet computer will hit store shelves on April 3.

The market extended its gains in the final hour of trading after the Federal Reserve reported that consumer borrowing rose in January to break a record 11 straight months of drops. The gain came from an increase in auto loans.

The report raised expectations that consumers are starting to increase their spending. On Thursday, many retailers posted stronger sales for January.

But it was the jobs report that gave the market an early push. Employers cut 36,000 jobs last month, better than the 50,000 cuts forecast by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. Economists were expecting it to rise to 9.8 percent.

Friday’s gains followed a jump at the start of the week on a handful of corporate takeover announcements. Traders often look to buyouts as a sign of confidence among corporate leaders. Though employers aren’t yet adding full-time staff, jobs growth is fundamental to a recovery because it puts money in more workers’ pockets, allowing them to increase spending.

“We haven’t won the game yet,” said James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors. “We’re just getting back to neutral. You can’t get from negative to positive without crossing zero.”

The Dow rose 122.06, or 1.2 percent, to 10,566.20, its highest close since Jan. 20. It was the Dow’s best point and percentage gain since Feb. 16.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up for a sixth straight day, rising 15.73, or 1.4 percent, to 1,138.70. The Nasdaq composite index added 34.04, or 1.5 percent, to 2,326.35.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 index jumped 3.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose 3.9 percent. The indexes erased their losses for 2010 during the week.

The coming week brings the one-year anniversary of the market’s rebound. On March 9, 2009, major stock indexes tumbled to 12-year lows as concern grew about the economy. Citigroup’s report that it had made money in early 2009 helped jump-start the recovery.

Meanwhile, bond prices fell on signs of the improving economy. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.69 percent from 3.61 percent late Thursday.

The prospect of future job growth also encouraged traders. Temporary workers, who are often seen as a precursor to employers adding full-time staff, rose 48,000 last month. Average hourly earnings rose by 3 cents to $22.46.

The Labor Department wouldn’t quantify how severe snowstorms that pummeled the East Coast last month might have swayed the report. Economists estimated before the report that the storms could inflate job losses by 100,000 or more.

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