WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy and job market are moving in the right direction, just not very quickly.
The news Friday that U.S. employers added a solid 165,000 jobs in April and unemployment fell to a four-year low of 7.5 percent came as a relief.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged 142 points, or 1 percent, on the news to close at a record 14,973. The better-than-expected April numbers erased worries that the U.S. economy was stalling for the fourth year in a row — a fear that had emerged after a disappointing jobs report for March. Friday's report also showed job growth in March and February was stronger than first estimated.