U.S. stocks finished Friday barely changed even as monthly jobs data came in stronger than expected, but major indexes still achieved their best week in more than two years.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 0.61 points, or 0.01 percent, to 12,019.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 0.30 points, or 0.02 percent, to 1,244.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.73 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,626.93.
The blue-chip Dow rose as much as 126 points in early trading after the Labor Department said that non-farm payrolls rose 120, 000 in November and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009, from 9 percent.
Also providing some optimism for investors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for closer economic ties among euro-area nations and tougher enforcement of budget rules to counter the region's debt crisis.
Merkel said the 17 nations that use the euro currency must move quickly to restore market confidence, changing EU treaties to make
financial controls stricter and more binding.
The gains in the market faded in late session but all three major indexes soared more than 7 percent on the week, the strongest weekly gains since March 2009.
