Stocks pop after strong jobs report

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy added 288,000 jobs in April, far better than the 205,000 jobs economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in April, down from 6.7% in March and beating the 6.6% forecast expected by economists.

But the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up only a bit in morning trading.

The dip in the unemployment rate was mostly due to fewer unemployed people entering the workforce. Still, the number of jobs added was impressive by other measures, with the professional services, construction, and food and beverages sectors showing strength.

"All things considered, today's report should be reassuring," said Jim Baird, Chief Investment Officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors. "It appears that employers have bought into the idea that the weak stretch was weather-driven and would pass with time."

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In corporate news, Linkedin (LNKD) beat revenue estimates Thursday, but shares dipped as investors worried about slowing growth for the career networking site.

Retail drugstore chain CVS (CVS, Fortune 500) declined as the company's earnings came in short of estimates.

Shares of AstraZeneca (AZN) were modestly higher after the company rejected an improved bid for the British company from Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500)worth £50 ($84.47) per share, or $106.4 billion. Pfizer shares also slipped.

"The financial and other terms described in the proposal are inadequate, substantially undervalue AstraZeneca and are not a basis on which to engage with Pfizer," AstraZeneca said in statement.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

U.S. stocks closed mixed Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 closed slightly lower, failing to hit new record highs. The Nasdaq logged modest gains thanks to rebounding social networking stocks.

European markets were mixed in afternoon trading, while Asian markets mostly moved forward Friday, but the gains were modest.

First Published: May 2, 2014: 9:50 AM ET

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