Dow Surges on Surprising Jobs Report

The stock market had a big day after a much better-than-expected jobs report gave Wall Street’s recent rally another shot of adrenaline. The Dow rose 829 points, or 3.1%, to 27,110; the benchmark S&P 500 rose 81 points, or 2.6%, to 3,193; and the Nasdaq rose 198 points, or 2%, to 9,814. While economists cautioned that it’s just one month of data and that many risks still loom on the long road to a full recovery, the jobs report gives some credence to the optimism building among stock investors that the economy can climb out of its current hole relatively quickly.

“It looks like the healing process is underway in the jobs market and it looks like it’s happening sooner than expected,” said Todd Lowenstein, equity strategy executive of the Private Bank at Union Bank. “It looks like the worst is behind us.” That hope has been a big reason for the better than 40% rally for the S&P 500 since late March. The S&P 500 is now down less than 5.5% from its record set in February after being down nearly 34% earlier this year when recession worries were peaking.

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