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Dow up more than 300 points on good jobs news

Investors cheered the blockbuster November jobs report. The Dow rose more than 300 points on Friday.

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By
Paul R. La Monica
, CNN Business
CNN — Investors cheered the blockbuster November jobs report. The Dow rose more than 300 points on Friday.

US stocks surged as solid payroll and wage gains and an unemployment rate that remains at a half-century low eased fears that trade tensions are hurting the US economy -- even as new American tariffs on China are set to kick in on December 15 unless an agreement before that deadline.

The Dow was up more than 1% in late morning trading and 29 of the 30 Dow stocks were trading higher. Insurer UnitedHealth was the only laggard.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose nearly 1% as well. The Dow and Nasdaq trimmed their weekly losses thanks to Friday's rally while the S&P 500 is now up slightly for the week and not far from its all-time high.

"There's no evidence of an economic hit from trade/tariff uncertainty," said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist with Brown Brothers Harriman, in a report Friday.

The strong jobs report should allay concerns about a severe slowdown in the US economy. The labor numbers likely will keep the Federal Reserve on hold for the foreseeable future as well. The Fed meets on December 11 and is not expected to change interest rates.

"Even though higher inflation and an overheating economy are still risk factors that could drive a slowdown, current conditions show that the economy is not headed for doomsday right now," said Steve Rick, chief economist at CUNA Mutual Group, in an e-mail to CNN Business. "The Fed shouldn't need to make another insurance cut next week."

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