Stocks Opened Higher after Jobs Data

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Friday as investors digested a surprisingly strong jobs report that might force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates sooner than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 32.43 points, or 0.18%, to 17,932.53. The S&P 500 gained 3.27 points, or 0.16%, to 2,075.19. The Nasdaq Composite was up 7.94 points, or 0.17%, to 4,777.38.

U.S. employers added the largest number of workers in nearly three years in November and wages increased, a sign of strength in the economy that could draw the Federal Reserve closer to raising interest rates. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 321,000 last month, the most since January 2012, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The U.S. trade deficit fell slightly in October as exports rebounded. The deficit edged down 0.4 percent to $43.4 billion, a drop from a revised $43.6 billion in September, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Canada’s job market cooled off in November, shedding 10,700 positions after two consecutive months of big gains, and the unemployment rate edged up to 6.6 percent from 6.5 percent in October, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

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