Stocks jump by 1% as jobless rate drops
NEW YORK — The economy's most vexing problem, unemployment, is showing the first signs of easing. And Wall Street is celebrating.
Major stock indexes jumped more than 1 percent yesterday after the government said the nation's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in July for the first time in 15 months and that employers cut fewer jobs.
The Labor Department report handed investors the best evidence yet that the economy could be climbing out of the recession. Analysts widely consider unemployment the biggest obstacle to a recovery in the economy, which is driven by consumer spending.
The figures provided validation for traders who have been betting since March that the economy is healing.
