A drop in the unemployment rate to its lowest level in three years propelled the Dow Jones industrial average Friday to its highest close since May 2008, before the financial meltdown later that year. The Nasdaq composite index hit an 11-year high.
The Dow jumped 156.82 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,862.23, its highest mark since May 19, 2008, about four months before Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed. In May 2008, credit markets were tightening up, subprime mortgages were going sour and Bear Stears had already collapsed. For the week, the Dow is up 201.77 points, or 1.6 percent.
The price of ultra-safe Treasury notes dropped, sending yields higher, and the price of oil rose for the first time in a week.
Bank of America led the 30 stocks in the Dow, rising 5.2 percent. Only two stocks were lower: Merck and Procter & Gamble.
The U.S. jobs figures helped markets in Europe rally on Friday despite further evidence that the 17-country eurozone is heading for recession.
Genworth Financial soared 14 percent, the best gain in the S&P 500. The insurance company reported late Thursday that it swung to a profit in the most recent quarter, helped by gains in sales of life insurance.
Weyerhaeuser gained 5.7 percent after reporting better quarterly earnings than analysts' forecasts. The timber and real estate company's earnings still sank 62 percent.
Video game maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. rose 3 percent. The company reported a 65 percent drop in quarterly profits after the market closed Thursday, but Wall Street's analysts expected much worse.
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