Wall Street cautious after US hiring misses expectations

WASHINGTON - US stocks were trading slightly higher on Friday, following a mixed jobs report for December that could leave investors uncertain about the country's future monetary policy decisions.

Around 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent at 49,307.89, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 percent to 23,531.04, and the broader S&P 500 index had gained 0.2 percent at 6,937.80.

The market reaction "is typical when different parts of the report point in different directions," Christopher Low of FHN Financial told AFP.

The United States created 50,000 jobs last month, according to official data released Friday, fewer than markets had expected.

Wall Street is cautiously assessing the job market, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent compared to November.

The Labor Department report also indicated a downward revision of the data for October and November.

The revision was particularly negative for October, with the economy ultimately losing 173,000 jobs during that period, compared to the 105,000 previously reported.

This is the first complete and timely jobs report in three months, after a prolonged budget impasse suspended the work of US statistical agencies' during the fall.