U.S. stocks made strong gains Friday as the Dow stock market index closed above 14,000 for the first time since before the financial crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the best-known U.S. stock market index, and it hit a five-year high as investors saw good news in reports on auto sales and hiring.
Investors apparently looked past a slight increase in the nation's unemployment rate and focused instead on the net gain in the number of jobs over the past year in the United States.
Friday's report from the Labor Department said the jobless rate rose one-tenth of a percent to hit 7.9 percent.
Other studies showed a gain of 157,000 jobs in January. Experts also raised estimates of job gains in prior months, in a customary revision as more complete information becomes available.
Other U.S. stock market indexes also were higher in Friday trading.