By Millie Munshi April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Copper jumped to the highest price since August 2008 following data that showed U.S. employers added the most jobs in three years, boosting the outlook for raw-materials demand. Employment in the U.S. rose by 162,000 jobs last month, the most since March 2007, the Labor Department said on April 2, when metal markets in New York and London were closed for a holiday. Copper, used in homes, cars and appliances, has surged more than 80 percent in the past 12 months as the economic recovery raised demand from builders and manufacturers. “We’re getting fuel from last week’s jobs numbers,” said Lannie Cohen, the president of Capitol Commodity Services in Indianapolis. “The recovery is looking like it’s for real now, and copper is looking bullish. The trend is straight up.” Copper futures for May delivery advanced 2.15 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $3.6055 a pound at 9:01 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the most-active contract touched $3.6265, the highest price since Aug. 1, 2008. The London Metal Exchange is closed today for a holiday. --Editors: Ted Bunker, Daniel Enoch. To contact the reporter on the story: Millie Munshi in New York at mmunshi@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

Source