Stocks move higher after unemployment rate falls
The U.S. stock market is moving higher in early trading after the government reported a decline in the unemployment rate last month.
Earnings gains from several U.S. companies including Expedia also drove the market higher early Friday. The market had its best day of the year the day before.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,700 shortly after trading began.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 12 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,786. Industrial and banking stocks led the index higher.
The Nasdaq composite rose 38 points, or 1 percent, to 4,096.
More people began looking for work in January, and many of them found jobs. That sent the unemployment rate down to 6.6 percent, the lowest since October 2008.
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