NEW YORK: A strong January jobs report on Friday sent US stocks soaring, pushing the Dow to pre-crisis levels, as investors celebrated a surge in job growth that pointed to new vitality in the fragile recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 156.82 points (1.23 percent) to finish at 12,860.23, its highest closing level since May 2008.
The Nasdaq Composite added 45.98 (1.61 percent) to 2,905.66, its best close since December 2000 and the dot.com collapse.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 19.36 (1.46 percent) to 1,344.90.
"The S&P 500 Index extended its best start to a year since 1989 as positive employment data brought bids to risk assets," Wells Fargo Advisors analysts said.
The Labor Department reported the jobs data ahead of the market, upending analyst predictions and propelling stocks higher from the opening bell.
The economy added 243,000 net new jobs in broad-based gains, while the unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent in December to 8.3 percent, the lowest rate since February 2009.
The White House declared the jobs report was another sign that the country's economy is climbing back from the deep 2008-2009 recession.
Adding to the bullishness was a better-than-expected ISM report on the services sector, which showed strong orders and jobs growth.
Bank of America led the Dow higher, leaping 5.2 percent as prospects for the US economy brightened. Alcoa and Caterpillar each were up 3.3 percent.
Off the Dow, engine maker Cummins rose 6.0 percent.
On the Nasdaq, Gilead Sciences surged 10.9 percent on positive results from testing of one of its experimental hepatitis C treatments.
Bond prices slumped as the dollar spiked higher on the jobs data.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 1.95 percent from 1.83 percent on Thursday, while the 30-year surged to 3.15 from 3.01 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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