This week, the markets seesawed back up, with the Dow gaining 2.56%, the S&P 2.29%, and the NASDAQ 2.68%.  The Dow continued teasing us by dancing around 10,000, finally ending the week just above it.  The yelled-about correction doesn’t seem to have started, after all.

On Friday, the market was able mostly to shrug off the disappointing employment figures, which showed the U.S. at 10.2% unemployment.  Thursday, data released showed a 9.5% annualized rise in worker productivity.  These facts taken together mean that companies are doing more work with fewer workers. Manufacturers are demanding even more from their workers in an effort to cut costs- productivity in manufacturing plants is up 13.6%.

Next week will be light in economic data. As always, we look toward initial jobless claims.  Otherwise, earnings season is winding and we will see how the market reacts as it digests companies’ reports.