NEW YORK (AP) — A strong jobs report has pushed stocks higher this morning, with the Dow breaking through the 17,000 threshold for the first time. The government said employers added far more jobs last month than economists had been expecting. The Dow was up 65 points after the first hour of trading, while the broader indexes are also higher. The market will close at 1 p.m. Eastern time today for the Independence Day holiday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hiring over the past five months has been the strongest since the late 1990s tech boom. The Labor Department says the economy added 288,000 jobs in June, and it revised the job gains for April and May upward. Over the past 12 months, the economy has added nearly 2.5 million jobs — 208,000 a month, the fastest year-over-year pace since May 2006. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent its, lowest level since September 2008. The number of long-term unemployed has dropped to just under 3.1 million.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Institute for Supply Management says the U.S. service sector expanded again last month, though at a slightly slower pace than in May. The trade group of purchasing managers says its service-sector index slipped to 56 in June, but any figure above 50 indicates expansion. The ISM survey found orders and hiring grew faster in June.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Express Scripts is dramatically scaling back its coverage of compounded medications. The nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager says most of the custom-mixed formulas are ineffective or overpriced. Express Scripts plans to drop coverage of 1,000 drug ingredients commonly found in such medications in a move it says will lower customers’ compounded drug costs by 95 percent. Pharmacists are blasting the change, saying it will deprive patients of crucial medications not available as traditional manufactured drugs.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Google is removing some search results in Europe to comply with a strict privacy ruling made by the European Union’s top court that enables citizens to ask for the removal of embarrassing personal information that pops up on a search of their names. But now, British media are accusing Google of censorship. The Guardian newspaper says six articles have been removed in what it calls a “challenge to press freedom.” The BBC says it has a blog entry removed, while the Mail Online saw four articles removed.
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