Stocks Get Jobs Jolt

The jobs market is improving faster and stronger than we thought.

On Friday, the government said 243,000 jobs were created last month and the unemployment rate surprisingly fell to 8.3%.  Both numbers announced by the Labor Department were much better than economists expected.

Those numbers are moving the needle on Wall Street; the major averages shot higher immediately after the report’s 8:30am ET release.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are on track to bring their winning streak into week five, the longest streak in more than a year.

The Dow Industrials are also higher this week, after losing ground last week.

The start to the new year has seen much less volatility than 2011. The last time the Dow closed with a triple-digit gain or loss was January 3.

Excitement is building for Sunday’s Super Bowl, but ticket prices are falling. The average price  of admission to see the New York Giants play the New England Patriots in Indianapolis is  $3,664. That’s down 15% over the past week, according to ticket-price source TiqIQ.  When the Giants beat the Pats back in 2008, tickets then averaged $3,536.

Spirit Airlines is raising ticket prices on most one-way flights. The discount carrier blames the government for the $2 increase, saying new federal rules allowing customers to change their itineraries without penalty within 24 hours of booking is forcing it to hold seats on flights.

Spirit is calling the fee "the Department of Transportation unintended consequence fee."