US stocks rose on Friday after a solid jobs report underscored the strength of the labour market and set the stage for the first interest rate hike this year. A drop in oil prices, however, tempered the broader market gains. Data showed 235,000 jobs were added in the public and private sectors in February, far exceeding economists' average estimate of 190,000. Job creation "is clearly running well ahead of the around-75,000-a-month pace that is consistent with stable labour resource utilisation," J.P. Morgan chief US economist Michael Feroli wrote in a note to clients.
"This fact hasn't escaped the Fed, and today's number easily clears the very low hurdle for the Fed to hike rates next week." Traders have priced in a 92 percent chance of a rate increase at the Federal Reserve's meeting next week, encouraged by a strong labour market and a pick up in inflation.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen's conference on March 15 following the two-day meeting will be closely watched for clues on the pace of future rate hikes. At 10:55 am ET (1555 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21.63 points, or 0.1 percent, at 20,879.82, the S&P 500 was up 6.11 points, or 0.26 percent, at 2,370.98 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 20.86 points, or 0.36 percent, at 5,859.66. Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, with technology providing the biggest boost. Energy slipped 0.3 percent on the back of a 0.6 percent slide in oil prices.