Stocks rise on good jobs report

NEW YORK – 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.

For the week, the Dow rose 2.3 percent, its best advance since the week ended Feb. 19. 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 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.

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.