Dow breaks through 14,000 for first time since October 2007

NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average broke through 14,000 for the first time in more than five years, fueled by renewed investor confidence and low interest rates.

The Dow broke through the milestone in early trading Friday for the first time since October 2007, following a gradual climb for stocks underway since the start of the year.

The Dow quickly teetered below the 14,000 milestone, however. The Dow was up 127 points, or 0.9%, to 13,989.

The federal government reported Friday the U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in January, and the unemployment rate edged up to 7.9%.

Analysts have cited growing investor confidence in the first month of the year, thanks to a drumbeat of positive economic data, a continuing housing recovery and better-than-expected corporate profits.

At the beginning of 2013, the president and Congress defused the so-called fiscal cliff that threatened to push the economy back into recession.

The debate over whether to raise the country’s borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, was also put off. Meanwhile, the European debt crisis has also faded as an immediate worry.

The Federal Reserve has been pumping money into the economy to lure investors into riskier assets like stocks by lowering interest rates.

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