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Wall Street clawed back losses on Friday after jobs data pointing to a resilient labour market fueled optimism about a soft landing for the economy, with a rise in US consumer sentiment also adding to the upbeat mood.
The Labor Department’s report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 199,000 jobs in November, compared with an estimated increase of 180,000.
The unemployment rate slipped to 3.7 per cent, while average earnings edged up to 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis, compared with forecasts of 0.3 per cent growth.
Investors pared back bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March after the report, but they are still pricing in the likelihood that the central bank is done raising rates.
“We didn’t see an outsized increase in average hourly earnings, which is the inflation piece of this report. We saw a significant number of jobs being created,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth in New York.
"This is the definition of a soft landing where inflation is heading in the right direction and we haven’t killed the labour market.”
Also aiding sentiment was data showing US consumer sentiment perked up much more than expected in December, snapping four straight months of declines.
At 10:25 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.59 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 36,221.97, the S&P 500 was up 18.41 points, or 0.40 per cent, at 4,604.00, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 72.06 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 14,412.06.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.91-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 63 new highs and 36 new lows.