Stocks Post Modest Gains as Job Losses Slow

For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 index added 3.2 percent, while the Nasdaq rose 3.3 percent.

FILE - In the Nov, 6, 2008 file photo, people look through the windows of the Nasdaq MarketSite in...

FILE - In the Nov, 6, 2008 file photo, people look through the windows of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. Stocks rose early Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, as investors shrugged off news that more jobs were lost in October than expected, pushing the unemployment rate above 10 percent for the first time since 1983.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

(AP)

Advancing stocks narrowly outpaced those that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.3 billion shares, compared with 4.9 billion Thursday.

Bond prices mostly climbed. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose, pushing its yield down to 3.51 percent from 3.53 percent late Thursday.

Oil fell $2.12 to settle at $77.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose $6.40 to settle at $1,095.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding 5.3 percent for the week.

Jeffrey Friedman, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a futures brokerage, said the jobs report is worrisome.

"We're still losing jobs. 10.2 is not a good number. And in reality, it's probably even higher," he said.

Some analysts saw reasons for optimism such as a rise in the number of temporary service jobs. Companies that are reluctant to commit to hiring will often first bring in temps to meet demand until they're more confident of a turnaround in the economy.

Linda Duessel, equity market strategist at Federated Investors, noted that payroll numbers turn higher an average of four and a half months after temp numbers begin to rise.

"We've been looking for temps to turn and they turned," she said. "It's good."

Although investors found a few bright spots in the jobs report, the numbers did shake their confidence in the economic recovery, stoked Thursday by an encouraging outlook from Cisco Systems Inc., better data on productivity and higher sales at major retailers. The Dow jumped 203 points on the day's string of good news to close above 10,000 for the first time in two weeks.

Thursday's jump brought most of the week's advance. The market rose Monday after improved manufacturing and housing figures raised expectations for the economy. Moves on Tuesday and Wednesday were modest.