US stocks rise on jobs news | Inquirer Business

US stocks rise on jobs news

/ 05:51 AM December 23, 2011

NEW YORK—US stocks scored solid gains Thursday in thin pre-Christmas trade helped by encouraging data on the jobs market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 64.86 points (0.54 percent) to 12,172.60 in closing trade.

The broader S&P 500 rose 10.38 (0.83 percent) to 1,254.09, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 21.48 (0.83 percent) to 2,599.45.

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Stocks were helped by new weekly data that confirmed a steady decline in jobless benefits applications, an indicator of slowing layoffs by US industry and government.

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“This is great news,” said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics, pointing to a solid downward trend in claims for recent weeks.

“One unexpectedly low number can easily be a fluke; two are interesting; three are telling us something real is happening in the labor market.”

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TAGS: economy, Employment, stocks, US

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