Stocks march higher following strong job growth

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street after the government reported a burst of hiring last month that sent the unemployment rate to a four-year low.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35 points to 14,365 shortly after the opening bell Friday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 was up two points at 1,550. The index us just 18 points below the record high it reached in October 2007. The Dow blew past its own record on Tuesday. Both are headed for their sixth straight gain.

The Nasdaq composite rose six points to 3,238.

U.S. employers added 236,000 jobs last month, far exceeding economist predictions. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent.

Pandora media jumped 23 percent after the online radio company issued a strong profit forecast.