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Stock rebound keeps going

NEW YORK, March 9 (UPI) -- Stocks headed higher Friday after the U.S. Labor Department said 227,000 jobs were added to the economy in February.

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The unemployment rate held unchanged at 8.3 percent, but the number of jobs added still beat the monthly average for 2011, which was 160,000 jobs added per month.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap widened from $49 billion in December to $52.5 billion in January.

Stock markets were mixed in Europe but Greece announced that more than 80 percent of private bondholders agreed to participate in a critical debt swap that was required for the country to qualify for a $170 billion international loan.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which had its sharpest one-day fall of the year Tuesday, carried a rebound Friday into its third trading session.

In early afternoon trading, the DJIA added 38.94 points or 0.3 percent to 12,946.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.70 points or 0.56 percent to 1,373.61. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 21.78 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,992.20.

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The benchmark 10-year treasury note lost 10/32 to yield 2.051 percent.

The euro fell to $1.311 from Thursday's $1.3275. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 82.55 yen from 81.55 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.65 percent, 160.78, to 9,929.74.

In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.59 percent, 34.44, to 5,894.17.


227,000 new jobs but rate stays at 8.3 percent

WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs in February, but the unemployment rate held stubbornly at 8.3 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

It is still the lowest jobless rate since February of 2009.

Economists, however, are concerned that the improving unemployment rate of the past six months has been heavily influenced by the number of people aging out of the workforce or giving up their hunt for a job out of sheer frustration.

There are 12.8 million people listed as unemployed.

Statistics show the percentage of adults employed is 58.5 percent and that number has not moved despite the falling unemployment rate, University of Maryland economics Professor Peter Morici said.

That means the unemployment rate has dropped for the past two years mostly because of people falling out of the statistics pool, not because of people finding jobs, Morici said.

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Friday's report shows the number of people listed as long-term unemployed, defined as those unemployed for 27 weeks or more, was also "little changed" in February, holding steady at 5.4 million.

The Labor Department said in February 42.6 percent of the individuals counted as unemployed had been without work for 27 weeks or more.

Also in the category of stubborn issues, the department said there were 1 million discouraged workers in February -- people who had stopped looking for work because they believe there is no job available for them -- and this number was unchanged from a year earlier.

The 2.6 million listed as marginally attached to the labor force -- those who had looked for work in the past 12 months but not in the past four weeks -- was also unchanged from a year ago, the department said.


83 percent of creditors OK Greek debt swap

ATHENS, Greece, March 9 (UPI) -- About 83 percent of Greece's private creditors agreed to cash in their bonds for new ones with less than half the face value, the Greek government said Friday.

The overwhelming approval means Greece will go ahead with its landmark debt-restructuring deal, officials said.

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Athens plans to invoke so-called collective-action clauses that will impose the exchange on virtually all unwilling creditors, bringing the approval rate to 96 percent, officials said. Greece will consult with its eurozone rescuers before invoking the collective-action clauses in a teleconference of eurozone finance ministers at 2 p.m. Brussels time (8 a.m. EST) Friday.

About $273 billion in bonds would be exchanged, slicing about $133 billion from the amount Greece owes.

Most Asian stock indexes were up 1 percent to 2 percent Friday on the news. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei 225 stock average broke above 10,000 for the first time since Aug. 1, 2011, before retreating to just below the 10,000 mark.

As the deal stands, private-sector creditors -- creditors that agreed in October to take a 50 percent loss on the face value of their bonds -- will take a "voluntary" 53.5 percent face-value loss, based on an arrangement worked out last month. New Greek bonds will be issued for trading Monday.

Bondholders who submit to the swap, voluntarily or otherwise, will get cash or high-quality short-term bonds issued by the eurozone rescue fund valued at 15 percent of the face value of whatever they exchange, plus a series of Greek bonds maturing over the next 11 to 30 years valued at 31.5 percent, The Wall Street Journal said.

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Those two percentages add up to 46.5 percent, or a 53.5 percent face-value loss.

The European Union and the IMF demanded completion of the swap before providing $173 billion in new loans to Greece, helping it to avoid defaulting on its remaining debts.

Greece's major public-sector creditors are not affected by the restructuring.

Those creditors include other eurozone nations, which lent Greece $70 billion, the International Monetary Fund, which lent $27 billion, and the European Central Bank and other national central banks, which bought more than $66 billion of Greek bonds.


Trade gap grows for third consecutive month

WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. trade deficit widened in January over December, growing for the third consecutive month, the U.S. Census Bureau said Friday.

The trade gap climbed from $50.4 billion in December to $52.6 billion in January.

The bureau said January exports reached $180.8 billion and imports ran to $233.4 billion. Exports month-to-month rose by $2.6 billion, but the gain in imports outpaced that, climbing by $4.7 billion.

The trade deficit with China widened by $2.9 billion. With the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the deficit rose by $900 million to $10 billion.

The trade deficit with the European Union, the other most significant trading partner, dropped from $9.6 billion to $8.5 billion. The gap with Japan edged lower, dropping from $6.5 billion to $6.2 billion.

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