Employment Reports Suggest Slow Growth

Stocks are rising after two solid employment reports were released Thursday morning. First-time jobless claims fell for the second week in a row, according to the Labor Department. And Automatic Data Processing reported that private sector employment increased by 55,000 in May.

Additionally, productivity grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of 2010, a sign that employers will need to add more employees as economic growth picks up.

Although the ADP jobs number was positive, it was below expectations, suggesting that the gathering recovery will be slow. Similarly, the unemployment numbers suggest the market is moving in the right direction, but weakly.