Stocks move higher after strong job growth

NEW YORK (AP) — A burst of hiring in February pushed stocks higher on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 52 points, or 0.4 percent, to 14,382 as of 3:02 p.m. today. The index surpassed its record close Tuesday and is on track for its sixth straight increase.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose five points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,549. The Nasdaq composite advanced 9 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,241.

U.S. employers added 236,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in January, the Labor Department reported. That's far better than the 156,000 job gains and unemployment rate of 7.8 percent that economists surveyed by FactSet expected.

The strong job growth shows that employers are confident about the economy despite higher taxes and government spending cuts.

Optimism that hiring is picking up has been one of the factors bolstering the stock market this year. Stocks have also gained on evidence that the housing market is recovering and company earnings continue to growing.