Investors added to the week's strong gains in the stock market after finding some positives in a surprisingly weak jobs report. Stock indexes posted a modest advance in light trading Friday after the Labor Department said the nation's unemployment rate topped 10 percent in October for the first time since 1983, but also that the pace of job losses slowed. The rise in joblessness, while not welcome news for the economy, reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hold interest rates low for some time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.46, or 0.2 percent, to 10,023.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.67, or 0.3 percent, to 1,069.30. The Nasdaq composite index rose 7.12, or 0.3 percent, to 2,112.44. For the week: The Dow is up 310.69, or 3.2 percent The S&P is up 33.11, or 3.2 percent The Nasdaq is up 67.33, or 3.3 percent For the year: The Dow is up 1,247.03, or 14.2 percent. The S&P is up 166.05, or 18.4 percent. The Nasdaq is up 535.41, or 34 percent. |