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Hiring speeds up as U.S. economy adds 196,000 jobs in March

Growth in hourly pay slows a bit after reaching a 10-year high

The numbers: The U.S. created 196,000 new jobs last month after a swoon in February, an encouraging gain that hints growth in the economy is ready for a revival.

Hiring increased in most major segments of the economy, most notably health care and white-collar firms. The flush of new jobs kept the unemployment rate near a 50-year low of

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The Dow was up nicely on Thursday gaining 167-points led by Boeing and Dow Inc., but the broader indices were more mixed with the S&P 500 posting modest gains, and the Nasdaq dipping a few points. Bond yields slipped a bit, possibly the reason for the mostly quiet day for stocks yesterday, as we await the March jobs report on Friday.

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A late rally pushed the Dow and S&P 500 back into positive after they had both given up some solid early gains and moved into negative territory. The Dow ended the day up 39.00 points and it was the Nasdaq and small caps leading on the upside, while we saw some negative reversal patterns on a couple of charts - particularly the Transportation Index. Bond yields bounced back as the F-fund lagged.

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It was a slow, mixed day for stocks, but they mostly trended higher after a slightly negative open. The Dow lost 79-points while the broader S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq gained 0.25%. Small caps were off modestly, as were the Transports, but both held onto most of Monday's gains and it was just a day of rest for the bulls.

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Stocks rallied out of the gate on Monday, holding onto the those Sunday night futures' gains. The Dow gained 330-points and we saw 1% plus gains almost across the board. It was the first day after the big first quarter and some follow-through may not be a big surprise on a Monday, but as we talked about yesterday, a new month (usually within the first 1 - 3 days) can trigger reversals from a major move in the prior month. We'll see.

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