Stocks are closing sharply higher after the U.S. government reported a big increase in hiring last month.

Stock Market
Spencer Platt, Getty Images
loading...

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 198 points, or 1.3 percent, to 16,020 Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 20 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,805. The Nasdaq composite rose 29 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,062.

It was the first increase for the market after five days of losses. The S&P 500 still ended the week with a slight loss, the first after eight weeks of gains.

Industrial stocks and others that tend to benefit when the economy is growing posted some of the biggest gains. Intel led the Dow higher.

The government reported that U.S. employers added 203,000 jobs in November, the fourth straight month of solid growth.

 

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM