Stocks surge despite weaker than expected job growth

US job growth in December came in weaker than expected -- but investors cheered nonetheless, focusing on the unemployment rate holding at ­4.1 percent, a 17-year low. Nonfarm payrolls added 148,000 jobs last month - below the 190,000 expected by economists -- yet strong enough to bring employment gains for 2017 to 2.1 million, the...