Bottom Line - Surge in hiring drives technology stocks to 11-year high Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters Traders gather at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. A surge in hiring last month lifted U.S. stocks Friday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq index hitting an 11-year high, as the data boosted hopes the world's largest economy has turned a corner. The broad-based rally also lifted the Dow Jones industrial to its highest level since before the 2008 financial crisis. More than 450 stocks across all sectors hit 52-week highs, including Apple, United Parcel Service, Yum Brands and MasterCard. The U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to nearly a three-year low of 8.3 percent, the government said. "This is a continuation of a grinding but measurable improvement in the U.S. data," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments in New York. He said there are still risks, like the European debt crisis, but "to the extent the market has the time or luxury to focus on the U.S. economy, this is a modestly positive environment for U.S. equities." In another report signaling strength, the pace of growth in the services sector unexpectedly accelerated in January to its highest level in nearly a year. On the NYSE, more than four stocks rose for each one that fell and on the Nasdaq a little less than four stocks rose for each decliner. More than half way through the earnings season, 60 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported have beaten expectations according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. Gilead Sciences was one of the top gainers on the S&P 500, up 8.8 percent to $53.65 a day after announcing promising early results from a trial of a hepatitis C drug. Shares of Micron Technology were halted on the Nasdaq following news that Steve Appleton, chairman and CEO of Micron Technology, died in the crash of a small plane in Boise, Idaho. CNBC looks back at the week's top business and financial stories: