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A trader works on the floor of the New York stock Exchange.
By msnbc.com news services
Wall Street rallied at Friday?s opening bell, as investors were boosted by an upbeat report on the U.S. labor market.
The Dow Jones industrial average was lately up?about?120 points.
Employment growth picked up speed in November, pushing down the nation?s unemployment rate to 8.6 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Nonfarm U.S. payrolls increased by 120,000 jobs last month, outpacing October?s 80,000 gain and roughly matching analysts? expectations. The drop in the jobless rate fell to its lowest level since March 2009, down from the prior month?s 9 percent level.
Investors were also focused on a summit that could decide the euro zone's future.
Signs that leaders of France and Germany are working hard to reach a compromise deal ahead of the Dec. 9 summit, viewed as make-or-break for the 12-year old single currency bloc, kept the euro firm versus the dollar and encouraged investors to push equity markets higher.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed in a speech to defend the euro, though she warned the euro zone debt crisis would take years to resolve.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. manufacturing activity rose to its highest in five months, while consumer spending and private-sector job creation have also been stronger.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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