Dow ends week on high note

Stocks struggled to end barely higher Friday after a blowout report on job creation failed to extend a powerful rally this week driven by the Federal Reserve's latest plan to pump up the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average waffled between gains and losses for much of the day before ending with a gain of just 9 points. Earlier in the week the Dow reached its highest level since September 2008, just before the peak of the financial crisis, over enthusiasm about the Fed's $600-billion bond-buying program announced Wednesday.

Stocks rapidly lost momentum Friday, despite a report from the Labor Department showing that employers added 151,000 jobs last month, the first gain since May and far more than analysts had anticipated.

The October payrolls gain was tempered by news that the national unemployment rate, which is measured by a separate survey of households, remained stuck at 9.6 percent for the third straight month. There are about 15 million Americans out of work.

The Dow closed up 9.24, or 0.1 percent, to 11,444.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 4.79, or 0.4 percent, to 1,225.85, and the Nasdaq composite index edged up 1.64, or 0.1 percent, to 2,578.98.- AP