NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are extending their rally after a relatively encouraging report on the job market lifted hopes about the pace of economic growth.
The Labor Department says private employers added 67,000 jobs in August, stronger than the 41,000 economists polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast.
While the data Friday does not indicate the economy is robust by any means, investors are upbeat that it also doesn’t indicate the economy is worsening or possibly falling back into recession.
There were other encouraging signs throughout the employment report, including a bigger-than-expected jump in hourly wages.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 94, or 0.9 percent, at 10,413. The S&P 500 is up 10, or 0.9 percent, at 1,100, while the Nasdaq composite is up 26, or 1.2 percent, at 2,226.
