Markets were cheered this afternoon by much better-than-expected US non-farm payrolls data, which showed the economy lost just 54,000 jobst in August, half as many as feared.
Wall Street had been expecting a fall of 100,000. July's drop of 131,000 has also been revised to a drop of 54,000. Employment has been falling for three months now but the picture is now far less gloomy than previously thought.
The FTSE 100 index in London, which was trading up about 30 points before the figures were released in the US, climbed more than 67 points to 5437.88, a gain of 1.24%. US stock index futures rose as well.
The figures will calm nerves at a time when many fear the US economy could slide back into recession. Economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter.
