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The police department in Bangor, Maine, has had a surprise hit with its Facebook page. In a city of 33,000, the page has earned almost 20,000 followers.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The journal that published a study by Facebook and two U.S. universities about how people's moods spread on the social network is now expressing reservations about the paper.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that as a private company, Facebook had no obligation to adhere to rules on the use of human subjects in the study. But the journal says Facebook's data collection practices may have violated scientific principles requiring the consent of study subjects.

Facebook allowed researchers to manipulate the content that appeared in the "news feed" of about 700,000 randomly selected users during a week in January 2012.

The data-scientists were trying to collect evidence to prove their thesis that people's moods could spread like an "emotional contagion" depending on what they were reading.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones industrial average topped 17,000 for the first time Thursday, the index's first big 1,000-point milestone this year, following news that hiring in the U.S. accelerated last month.

The market rose from the start of trading after the government reported that U.S. employers hired more employees than investors and economists expected. Trading was extremely light, though, and the market closed early ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

Thursday's gains add to what has been a strong month-and-a-half for Wall Street. Along with the Dow closing above a record 17,000, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is approaching its own milestone of 2,000. The indexes have risen as a stream of good news on jobs and manufacturing bolsters investor confidence.

"Right now the story is onward and upward," said Neil Massa, senior trader at John Hancock Asset Management.

The Dow rose 92.02 points, or 0.5 percent, to finish at 17,068.26, an all-time high. The S&P 500 closed up 10.82 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,985.44 and the Nasdaq composite gained 28.19 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,485.93.

Investors were encouraged by the latest jobs report from the Department of Labor, which showed U.S. employers added 288,000 workers to their payrolls in June, far more than forecast. The unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent. The government also said employers hired more people in previous months than reported earlier: 217,000 in May and 304,000 in April. The U.S. economy is now creating around 231,000 jobs each month in 2014, compared to roughly 194,000 a month last year.

"It topped even some of the most optimistic of forecasts," Massa said.

The jobs report is the latest piece of data to show the U.S. economy continues to improve steadily. On Wednesday, the payroll processor ADP said private businesses added 281,000 jobs in June, up from 179,000 in May. Also this week, the Institute for Supply Management said the U.S. manufacturing expanded for the 13th consecutive month.

While the Dow's passing of 17,000 is a notable milestone, most Wall Street professionals don't focus on it. The vast majority of mutual funds and investors use the broader S&P 500 index as their benchmark for how they are performing. In fact, the Dow has lagged behind the rest of the stock market this year. The index is up 3 percent in 2014 compared with the S&P 500's rise of 7.4 percent.

"That said, investors should be feeling good about Dow 17,000," Scott Wren, a senior equity strategist with Wells Fargo Advisors, wrote in a note to investors. "The stock market has more than recovered from levels seen during the financial crisis more than five years ago. Slow and steady can win the race; and it has."

The Dow's latest milestone is another reminder of its bull market run. The index has climbed more than 10,500 points since its Great Recession low of 6,547.05 on March 9, 2009.

Among individual stocks, the pet supply chain PetSmart rose the most in the S&P 500 on Thursday. PetSmart gained $7.48, or 13 percent, to $67.28 after the activist investor firm Jana Partners disclosed a 9.9 percent stake in the company.

Investors sold bonds after the strong jobs report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.64 percent from 2.63 percent late Wednesday. Bond yields rise when prices fall.

Thursday was the slowest trading day of the year for stocks. Roughly 1.9 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange.

U.S. markets will be closed Friday for the Fourth of July holiday. U.S. stock trading will reopen Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs says it has reached out to nearly 140,000 veterans in the past two months to get them off waiting lists and into clinics for medical appointments.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson revealed the number Thursday as the VA released new audit figures showing improved patient access at 731 VA hospitals and clinics nationwide.

The audit of patient access information is the third released by the VA in the past month as the agency responds to a national outcry over reports of patient deaths and treatment delays at VA facilities across the country. Audits of 731 VA hospitals and clinics also were released June 9 and June 19.

As of June 15, about 46,000 veterans waited at least 90 days for their first VA medical appointments, the agency said. That's down from 57,000 who waited more than 90 days as of May 15.

An additional 7,000 veterans had never gotten an appointment for VA care, despite seeking one over the past decade, the VA said. That's down from about 64,000 veterans who did not get appointments as of May 15.

Despite the improvements, Gibson said veterans in many communities still are waiting too long to receive needed care. The VA provides health care to nearly 9 million enrolled veterans.

"There is more work to be done," Gibson said Thursday. "We must restore the public's trust in VA, but more importantly, we must restore the trust of our veterans who depend on us for care."

A veteran died this week after collapsing in an Albuquerque, New Mexico, veterans hospital cafeteria. The man waited 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials said Thursday.

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