The Dow Jones industrial average hit 17,000 Thursday for the first time thanks to a better-than-expected jobs report.

Thursday, an abbreviated trading session and the last trading session of the week, saw the unemployment rate fall to 6.1 percent and 288,000 jobs get added. Those indicators helped surge the Dow to 17,000. It closed Thursday at 17,068.26, up 92 points.

"I would categorize it as a fantastic number, and a great transition to earnings season next week," global investment specialist David Lyon of JP Morgan Private Bank in San Francisco told CNBC.

Now, the S&P 500 is eyeing the 2,000 range after closing at 1,985.44 Thursday.

The NASDAQ reached a 14-year high Thursday: 4,485.93. It was up 0.6 percent.

Investor uncertainty continues to fall. The CBOE Volatility Index is down 4.6 percent, to 10.32, showing more investor confidence in the markets.

Stock News and Updates

Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) was up over 5 percent after a jump in same-store sales for June. CNBC's Jim Cramer is advising investors to buy the drug-store chain shares.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) was up almost 4 percent. There is a median "buy" rating on the hotel company.

J.C. Penney (JCP) was down over 1 percent. The struggling department store is trying to recover from declining sales in recent years.