THE Dow Jones industrial average closed above 11,000 for the first time in five months yesterday as hopes built that the Federal Reserve will take more action to get the economy going again.

The milestone, which effectively erases the effects of a long summer slump for stocks, comes one day before the three-year anniversary of the market's all-time high. The Dow is still 22.3 percent below that level.

The last time the Dow closed above 11,000 was May 3, just three days prior to a harrowing "flash crash" that briefly sent stocks plummeting. The Dow had reached its highest level of the year just a week before.

A weaker jobs report added to a series of tepid economic indicators in recent weeks that have built expectations that the Fed will announce new steps to encourage borrowing when it meets in early November.

Private employers added 64,000 workers last month, short of the 75,000 economists expected, according to a monthly government report released early yesterday. Overall, 95,000 jobs were slashed as governments laid off workers, including temporarycensus employees. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.6 percent.

Jason Pride, director of investmentstrategy at wealthmanagement firm Glenmede, said that the weak report gives the Fed "the window of opportunity to take action."

The Fed's goal, if it starts buying bonds again, would be to drive interest rates down further from their already low levels and spark borrowing and spending. Lower rates could also eventually drive investors into riskier assets like stocks or into currencies in countries with more attractive interest rates.

Alcoa Inc. was the biggest gainer among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones industrial average after reporting earnings that beat expectations late Thursday. Shares of the aluminum maker rose 5.7 percent to close at US$12.89 after the company raised its forecast for global aluminumconsumption.

Alcoa is traditionally the first of the Dow 30 to report earnings and is often seen as a bellwether for industrial companies. Other materials companies such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Dow Chemical Co. also rose.

The Dow rose 57.90, or 0.5 percent, at 11,006.48. The Dow first crossed 11,000 in May of 1999, and reached its highest close of all time on Oct. 9, 2007, when it finished at 14,164.53.

The Dow is up five of the past six weeks, and 5.5 percent for the year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.09, or 0.6 percent, to 1,165.15, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 18.24, or 0.8 percent, to 2,401.91.

Employers have not started hiring a lot of workers because of worries about potential tax hikes and unknown costs associated with health care and financial regulatory reform passed earlier this year. Consumers have also kept their spending down, which has kept a lid on hiring.

Earnings are likely to become more of a factor in the market's direction in the coming weeks as hundreds of companies report results.

Carole Peck, president and founder of Carole Peck Financial Center, said "if we see positiveearnings, and projections for the fourth quarter are fairly decent, that should play positively."

Strong earnings results and upbeat corporate outlooks drove the Dow up 7.1 percent in July.

About three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 945 million shares.

• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)
• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
• encourage [in´kʌridʒ] vt.鼓励；怂勇；促进 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• investment [in´vestmənt] n.投资；(时间等)投入 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• management [´mænidʒmənt] n.管理；处理；经营 (初中英语单词)
• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)
• copper [´kɔpə] n.铜 a.铜制的 (初中英语单词)
• chemical [´kemikəl] a.化学的 n.化学制品 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• reform [ri´fɔ:m] v.&n.改革；改良；革除 (初中英语单词)
• factor [´fæktə] n.因素；原动力；要素 (初中英语单词)
• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)
• monthly [´mʌnθli] a.每月(的) n.月刊 (高中英语单词)
• temporary [´tempərəri] a.暂时的 n.临时工 (高中英语单词)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中英语单词)
• consumption [kən´sʌmpʃən] n.消耗；结核病 (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl] n.&a.潜在的；可能的 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• positive [´pɔzətiv] a.确定的 (高中英语单词)
• decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
• anniversary [,æni´və:səri] n.周年纪念(日) (英语四级单词)
• census [´sensəs] n.人口普查 (英语四级单词)
• eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
• aluminum [,ælju´miniəm, ,ælə´miniəm] n.铝 (英语四级单词)
• effectively [i´fektivli] ad.有效地 (英语六级单词)
• strategy [´strætidʒi] n.兵法；战略 (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz] n.收益；报酬；获得 (英语六级单词)
• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)