The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 14,000 today for the first time since before the recession and the 2008 financial crisis, and numbers released by the Labor Department bested forecasts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 143.8 points and traded above 14,000 for the first time since 2007, while the S&P 500 Index (IBEX) jumped 1 percent to return to a five- year high following a two-day slump. The 10-year Treasury yield fell less than one basis point to 1.98 percent. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index slid to a one-month low as regulators lifted a ban on short selling, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index capped the best week since October 2011 as manufacturing expanded. The yen sank against all 16 major peers.
U.S. employers added 157,00 jobs in January after accelerating more than previously estimated at the end 2012, Labor Department figures showed, while other reports on consumer confidence, manufacturing and construction spending topped forecasts. The data eased concern about the world’s largest economy following a report earlier this week that showed gross domestic product shrank last quarter for the first time since the recession. [...]
The Labor Department revised earlier data to show a 196,000 increase in jobs for December and a 247,000 surge in November, adding a total of 127,000 jobs to the count for those two months.
The only existential threat to the economy right now is Congress.