NEW YORK: US stocks opened little-changed after a mixed employment report showed few new jobs were created in January, but that the unemployment rate fell to 9.0 percent from 9.4 percent.
At 1510 GMT The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 1.33 points (0.01 percent) at 12,060.93. The broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.09 points (0.01 percent) to 1,307.01.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 4.33 points (0.16 percent) to 2,758.21.
"The US equity markets are nearly unchanged in morning action following a smaller-than-expected increase is US nonfarm payrolls, which caused an early advance to evaporate," said analysts at Charles Schwab.
"However, the labor report did reveal stronger-than-forecasted average hourly earnings and an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate," it said.
Briefing.com analysts also pointed to the stronger US dollar and modest stock market rises in Europe and Asia as giving some resilience to the US markets.
Insurer Aetna was up 11.8 percent, after it forecasted better-than-expected 2011 earnings.
Hotel and casino operator Las Vegas Sands fell 6.5 percent after fourth quarter revenues fell shy of expectations.
The bond market continued to fall. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.59 percent from 3.54 percent Thursday evening, while the yield for the 30-year went to 4.70 percent from 4.66 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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