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Article: Stocks jump as jobs, productivity data boost mood
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- November 5, 2009
- Author:
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Encouraging news on jobs and worker productivity gave investors new reason to be optimistic about the economy and pushed stocks to big gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 150 points Thursday, while the Nasdaq composite index, which has a concentration of technology stocks, gained about 2 percent after an upbeat forecast from Cisco Systems Inc.
The Labor Department said the number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell to 512,000 last week, the lowest level since January and fewer than economists had forecast.
Initial claims are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of employers' willingness to hire workers. The ...