Shock rise in US jobless rate is a fillip for shares

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While the numbers were far worse than Wall Street and the City had expected, they triggered a jump in share prices as investors figured they made it more likely that US politicians would succumb to pressure to pass Barack Obama's gargantuan economic stimulus plan.

Lawmakers in the world's biggest economy have been faced by a barrage of bad news on the economy in recent weeks and tonight the Democrat-led US senate was attempting to push through a $937 billion package of spending aimed at boosting jobs.

President Obama wants the final bill on his desk by 16 February and has stressed the need for it to be passed quickly to help stem the recession that has been ripping through the US since December 2007.

Investors were in little doubt about the dire nature of the jobs numbers.

Greg Salvaggio, trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington, said: "It gets worse and worse. The economy is just falling into oblivion. Everyone in the markets is now just watching Washington and this number sharpens Obama's attack, letting him say: 'We have to act now.'"

The FTSE 100 index jumped after the figures to be up 67.24 points at 4296.17 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average this evening rose 131.42 to 8194.49.