NEW YORK: US stocks climbed Friday after a labor market report showed the economy created more jobs than expected in September but not enough to bring down stubbornly high unemployment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 92.33 points (0.83 percent) to 11,215.66 by 1420 GMT, building on three straight sessions of gains.
The broader S&P 500 rose 4.89 points (0.42 percent) to 1,169.86, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite clawed back from losses to a 0.77 point gain (0.03 percent) to 2,507.59.
"The winning streak for the US stock markets continues... on the heels of a stronger-than-expected September nonfarm payroll report, which also came with upward revisions to the figures posted in August," Charles Schwab analysts said in a note.
Stocks had opened narrowly mixed after the Labor Department reported that the US economy created a net 103,000 jobs in September.
Though that was much stronger than the 60,000 jobs analysts expected, the number of new payrolls was not enough to lower the unemployment rate, which has been stuck at 9.1 percent for three months.
The department revised upward the two previous months' job creation numbers, indicating that employment in the faltering economy had more momentum than previously believed.
The July payrolls totaled 127,000, not the 85,000 initially estimated, while the change for August was revised from zero to 57,000.
"The economy looks a bit less recession-prone but jobs trends still are not very good. We are averaging 119,000 jobs per month this year," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at FAO Economics.
Sentiment found some support from across the Atlantic, after the European Commission said Friday it would offer a framework in "coming days" for European Union member nations to recapitalize banks mired in the eurozone debt crisis.
Among stocks in focus, Bank of America shed 2.1 percent while Citigroup rose 0.8 percent.
Network giant Cisco gained 0.8 percent, Oracle slipped 0.2 percent and Apple was down 0.3 percent, two days after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.
Bonds dropped. The 10-year Treasury bond yield increased to 2.08 percent from 1.99 percent late Thursday, while the 30-year yield rose to 3.04 percent from 2.95 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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