Stocks jumped Friday, with the Nasdaq closing at an 18-month high, after a U.S. government report showed employers cut fewer jobs last month than had been expected. It was the latest sign that the pace of job cuts is slowing. Stocks opened higher and built on those gains during the session. Wall Street ended higher for the week, with the three main indexes posting gains in three of the last four weeks. U.S. employers cut 36,000 jobs last month following a net loss of 26,000 jobs in January. February's job losses were far fewer than economists had expected. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. Economists had expected an increase to 9.8 percent. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and gained versus the yen. --MORE
