NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are climbing Friday morning after the U.S. government reported another month of strong job gains. The price of oil retreated on reports that OPEC won’t cut production.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow rose 244 points, or 1.4 percent, to 17,721 as of 10:47 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 25 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,074. The Nasdaq composite increased 60 points, or 1.2 percent, to 5,097.
HIGHER HIRING: The Labor Department said employers added 211,000 jobs in November, with big gains in the construction and retail industries. Hiring remains robust, and the U.S. economy continues to benefit from steady consumer spending even though manufacturers are feeling the pain weak from low oil prices and weak demand overseas.
Investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates at its December meeting, and a poor jobs report appeared to be the only thing that could have prevented it from doing so. The survey came in a bit stronger than analysts expected, and the government also said more people were hired in September and October than it had initially reported.
OIL: The price of oil slumped as a meeting of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries ended. According to reports, OPEC won’t cut oil production in order to raise prices. Instead, it will keep production steady in order to maintain its market share. Oil prices tumbled at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, just as the meeting concluded.