U.S. Added 200,000 Jobs, Unemployment to 8.5%; Stocks Rising

[Stocks-to-Watch]

In another sign the labor market is improving, the country added 200,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate dipped to 8.5% from 8.6%.

Economists had been expecting the economy to add 155,000 jobs. November and October jobs numbers were revised — October up by 12,000, November down by 20,000.

In more good news from the report, earnings were up 0.2% and the average length of the workweek rose to 34.4 hours from 34.3 hours.

The strong number and the dip in unemployment is helping push the market higher this morning. The Dow is up 69 points to 12,400. The S&P 500 is up 8.2 points to 1,281.3. Financial stocks were mostly rising, with Citigroup (C) up 0.8% in pre-market trading.



Original Article Source by Barrons.com