MARKET REPORT

Jobs report pushes Dow higher

— The Dow Jones industrial average rose Friday after the government reported that the U.S. added jobs in November.

The Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes were weighed down by Apple Inc. shares, which have been falling in recent weeks as investors wonder how long the company’s momentum can continue.

The Dow, which doesn’t include Apple, rose.

The headline numbers from the jobs report sent the market higher in early trading. The Labor Department said the U.S. added 146,000 jobs last month, more than economists had expected. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent, the lowest in nearly four years.

The overall report, however, painted a more restrained view of the economy.

“If you delve into that report a little more, there are some disturbing issues,” said Brian Lund, who is based in Los Angeles as executive vice president and co-founder of the online brokerage Ditto Trade.

Among them: The unemployment rate fell largely because discouraged unemployed workers stopped looking for work, which meant they were no longer counted among the unemployed.

Also, the Labor Department revised previously released jobs numbers downward, saying that employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

Lund also wasn’t so sure about the government’s statement that Hurricane Sandy “did not substantively impact” the unemployment numbers. He expected Sandy’s detrimental effects to show up in jobs reports over the next couple of months, as businesses figure out their post-storm plans.

“If you have Sandy, you don’t automatically lose your job,” Lund said. “Businesses take time to say, ‘Oh, what’s going on, can we go forward, do we need to cut people to survive? It’s not until later that they start laying off.”

The Dow rose 81.09 points to 13,155.13. The S&P 500, where Apple’s weight is 4 percent, was up but by a smaller proportion, rising 4.13 to 1,418.07. The Nasdaq composite index, where Apple accounts for a hefty 12 percent, fell 11.23 to 2,978.04.

Rising stocks outnumbered falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was 3.1 billion shares, slightly lighter than the recent average.

Apple fell $13.99 to $533.25, or 2.6 percent. That’s part of a longer trend: Apple’s stock has dropped nearly 24 percent since the iPhone 5 went on sale Sept. 21.

Investors are wondering how long the company can keep the momentum going with its popular iPhone and iPad devices.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.63 percent from 1.59 percent late Thursday, a sign that investors were putting more money in stocks.

Business, Pages 30 on 12/08/2012

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