Wall Street cheers surprisingly good jobs data

MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE

Stocks rally as Wall Street greets a January employment report that came in better than expected. See full story.

Employment up nearly 2 million since summer

Over the past six months, employment as measured by the household survey has increased by 1.98 million, the biggest increase in more than six years, reports Rex Nutting. See full story.

U.S. adds 243,000 jobs in January

The economy generates 243,000 jobs in January as the nation�s unemployment rate dips to 8.3%. Most sectors of the economy add workers, in See full story.

Four good charts, and a bad one, on jobs report

See the jobs report (and a few others) in graphical form, and take a poll on your views. See full story.

China feeds copper run, but gains may not last

Copper�s wild ride since August has given way to a big rally year to date as optimism over demand growth for the industrial metals, especially from China, gathers steam, but some analysts have serious doubts that it will last. See full story.

MARKETWATCH COMMENTARY

Instead of acknowledging that banks have become a part of government, we keep pretending they are private institutions, writes David Weidner. See full story.

MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE

What�s the State of Retirement in the U.S.? It�s plagued with problems involving Social Security, contribution rates and more that need fixing now. See full story.