US: 243,000 jobs in January

The US economy creates the highest number of jobs in nine months this January.  


According to official figures a total of 243,000 jobs were created with the unemployment rate dropping to 8.3%, the lowest in three years.

"News of the jobs growth caused shares to rocket up, with the Dow Jones index up 156 points at 12,862, its highest level since May 2008.

The Nasdaq index, which specialises in technology companies, soared to its highest level since December 2000 by the close of trading on Friday.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index hit its highest level since July 2011 rising 1.8% while Germany's Dax closed up 1.6%. The Cac 40 in France was 1.5% higher." (BBC News)