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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Job gains, services reports buoy markets


Associated Press

NEW YORK — Stronger reports on jobs and the nation's services industries lifted stocks yesterday. Growing confidence about the economy hurt demand for Treasurys and drove up interest rates. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note briefly rose to 4 percent, its highest level since June.

Expectations that a recovery is taking hold were raised when the Labor Department said Friday that employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the economy's biggest gain in three years. Reports of strong improvements in demand at services businesses and in the housing market added to an optimistic mood among traders. Gains in jobs could help the economy by boosting consumer spending.