Stocks on the New York Stock Exchange surged on Friday to close the first week of October trading after the release of jobs data that came in far stronger than expected. September’s jobs report showed that 336,000 jobs were added last month, more than double the number that Wall Street analysts expected.
The S&P 500 surged 1.2% upwards, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, or 290 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the day’s big winner, rising 1.6%.
As a result of the unexpected job growth, the Federal Reserve is expected to continue its higher fiscal policy going forward. The September jobs report is the last major payroll report released prior to the central bank’s next policy meeting.