Markets boosted by fantastic unemployment numbers 03/02/12

Markets were boosted by a fantastic set of unemployment numbers from the US that showed the rate of unemployment fall to its lowest level since January 2009.  The much anticipated non-farm payroll number saw the US economy creating far more jobs than had been expected.  As soon as the number was released investors rushed in to buy just about anything they could put their hands on.  Those people who’ve been sitting on the sidelines up until now were finally tempted to commit to stocks.  Today’s rally higher was on decent volumes which is also an encouraging sign.

A strong jobs market in the US is good news for elsewhere as its economy is still critical to keeping global growth on track.  Many UK stocks have a substantial exposure to the world’s biggest economy and so buyers pushed it to a six month high, with the FTSE 100 recording stronger gains than many of its European counterparts.

Today caps off a very good week for equity markets as investors reflect on a eurozone that’s attempting to achieve fiscal stability and a US economy that’s still creating lots of jobs.