165,000 Net Job Additions in April Lift S&P 500 Index Above 1,600

Nichole Harper
03 May, 2013
New York City

The U.S. economy added 165,000 net new jobs in April and jobless rate fell to 7.5% and March and February data were revised higher. S&P 500 index crossed 1,600 after 13 years crossing 1,500 and the narrow Dow Jones crossed 15,000 for the first time.

[R]11:00 AM New York – The U.S. economy added 165,000 net new jobs in April and jobless rate fell to 7.5% and March and February data were revised higher. S&P 500 index crossed 1,600 after 13 years crossing 1,500 and the narrow Dow Jones crossed 15,000 for the first time.[/R]

Stocks in New York traded higher after the U.S. economy added more than expected jobs in April and unemployment rate declined to 7.5%, the lowest since December 2008.

The report fired up the market indexes and the S&P 500 index jumped above 1,600 after 13 years crossing 1,500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 15,000 for the first time.

U.S. Jobless Rate Falls to 7.5%

U.S. payrolls in April increased 1.65,000 and jobless rate fell to 7.5%, according to the data released by the Labor Department. Economists had anticipated an increase between 140,000 and 145,000.

Private sector added 176,000 jobs and government at all levels cut staff by 11,000 in the month.

The April month job additions are near the monthly 168,000 jobs added a month in the first quarter but below 209,000 in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Payrolls increases were revised higher in February to 332,000 from 268,000 and in March were increased to 138,000 from 88,000.

For the year to April, monthly job increase has averaged 196,000 compared to 183,000 in all of 2012.

European Markets

European markets advanced after the U.S. jobless rate fell and the new job additions in April were ahead of expectation.

The European Commission in its latest estimate lowered its economic outlook after the economy shrank 0.6% in 2012.

The commission said economy of the 17-nations is expected to shrink 0.4% this year from the previous estimate of 0.3% decline in February.

The commission also lowered its estimate for German economic growth to 0.4% from the previous estimate of 0.5%. Spanish economy is expected to shrink 6.5% from the previous outlook of 1.5% decline.

Across the wider region of 27-nation European Union, GDP is expected to shrink 0.1% from the earlier estimate of an increase of 0.1%.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index increased 1% to 6,527 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 1.3% to 8,065.

In Paris trading, CAC 40 index added 1.1% to 3,900.

Asian Markets

Market indexes in Shanghai increased 1.4% on a rally in financial services sector stocks.

Sensex in Mumbai fell after the Reserve Bank of India lowered less than expected 25 basis points for its benchmark interest rate to 7.25% and estimated economy to grow 5.5% in the first fiscal half.

Markets in Japan are closed today and on Monday.

Stocks in Review

American International Group ((AIG)) increased 5% after the insurer reported first-quarter earnings ahead of expectations on higher property and casualty sector premium.

LinkedIn ((LNKD)) declined 9% after the professional networking site beat quarterly earnings estimates but fell short of revenues outlook in the current quarter.

The stock had run up 16% in the last two weeks before the earnings release.