Markets see jobs report as glass half full

U.S. stocks rallied Friday morning after the Labor Department said the economy added 163,000 jobs in July. The number of jobs created was far better than the 100,000 jobs economists had predicted. However, economists also predicted the unemployment rate would remain unchanged. Instead, it rose from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent as more job seekers entered the work force. Investors took the report has a glass half full, rather than half empty and stocks soared early. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average added 215.36 points, or 1.67 percent, to 13,094.24. The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 24.47 points, or 1.79 percent, to 1,389.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 55.34 points, 1.9 percent, to 2,965.11. The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 20/32, sending yields to 1.55 percent. The euro rose to $1.2315 from Thursday's $1.218. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 78.66 yen from 78.23 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index shed 1.13 percent, 98.07, to 8,555.11.