Corporate hiring halts 4-day market skid

The biggest corporate hiring spree in five years ended a weeklong slide in the stock market.

The Labor Department reported Friday that private employers hired 268,000 people last month, the most since February 2006. The news on job growth helped lift the dollar, nudged up oil prices and reversed a four-day slump for stocks.

"Everyone was a bit surprised by the jobs number," said Frank Fantozzi, the chief executive of Planned Financial Services, a Cleveland, Ohio-based firm. "It's a good indication for the markets that we are still in the growth stage."

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 54.57 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 12,638.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10, or 0.38 percent, to 1,340.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.84, or 0.46 percent, to 2,827.56.

Industrials companies that benefit from global building and expansion projects led the market following the jobs report. Caterpillar Inc. rose 0.87 percent. Boeing Co. rose 1.1 percent. But Friday's bounce failed to make up for losses earlier this week, when fears of an economic slowdown and weaker-than-expected earnings dragged down the major stock indexes. -- AP