- Title: USA: U.S. stocks open higher after jobs report.
- Date: 10th March 2012
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CENTER COUNTER VARIOUS OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES CENTER, POSTER ON WALL "JOB SEEKERS" JOB LISTINGS BOOKS ON TABLE MAN SPEAKING WITH CAREER COUNSELOR IN CUBICLE VARIOUS OF CROWDS AT JOBS FAIR FERNDALE, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (FILE - FEBRUARY 22, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS AT THE GARDEN FRESH SALSA AND HUMMUS FACTORY
- Embargoed: 25th March 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economy,Employment
- Reuters ID: LVA3CCHPEJW30AQOJK1TM0BFED56
- Story Text: U.S. stocks rose on Friday (March 9), adding to their best two-day run in nearly three months, after a report showed the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in February.
U.S. employers added 227,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said, and the unemployment rate held at a three-year low of 8.3 percent. Investors were looking for a gain of 210,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll.
Shares of Monster Worldwide Inc, an online employment agency whose stock is sensitive to changes in the employment outlook, rose 4.4 percent to $8.97 (USD). The Dow Jones business training index, which also tracks Manpower Inc, Rob Half International Inc and TrueBlue Inc, rose 0.9 percent.
Also lifting stocks was Greece's winning strong acceptance of its bond swap offer to private creditors, averting the immediate risk of an uncontrolled default. The market had run up for two days on hopes of success.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 18.92 points, or 0.15 percent, to 12,926.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.35 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,368.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 4.94 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,975.36.
Not only was job growth a bit stronger than the 210,000 economists polled by Reuters had expected, but the government said 61,000 more jobs were created in December and January than previously thought.
Nonfarm payrolls have now grown by more than 200,000 for three months in a row - bolstering President Barack Obama's chances for re-election. Employment growth has averaged 245,000 a month over the last three months.
Manufacturing, which in January recorded the largest jobs gain in a year, had another sturdy performance in February and there was also strong demand for temporary help, a potential harbinger of future permanent hiring.
Although the labor market is gaining some muscle, the pace of improvement remains too slow to do much to absorb the 23.5 million Americans who are either out of work or underemployed. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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