US stocks rise on strong December jobs growth

Wall Street stocks opened higher Friday, ending a sharp two-day skid, after the government reported that the US economy added 292,000 jobs in December, much more than expected.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 133.06 points (0.81 percent) at 16,647.16.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 17.02 (0.88 percent) to 1,960.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 49.85 (1.06 percent) to 4,739.27.

The Labor Department December figure was much above the 200,000 analyst estimate. The report also upgraded job growth in October and November. Unemployment held steady at 5.0 percent.