NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street traded mixed in early trading Thursday after the Labor Department said the nation's unemployment rate held steady at 5.5% last month, as expected. The government also reported that 62,000 jobs were lost in June, but that number was close to economists' forecasts.
Though the report showed the sixth consecutive month of job losses, it appeared to assuage some worries that the snapshot of the labor market would be more grim. Employment numbers are critical because consumers who are out of work or are nervous about losing their job are likely to cut their spending. They've already become cautious because of higher food and energy prices.
Inflation concerns remained as the price of oil neared $146 for the first time.
Investors also capped a holiday-shortened week by examining the European Central Bank's decision to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a year. The bank's concerns about rising prices in the 15 nations that use the euro prompted the quarter-point increase in the key rate to 4.25 percent. The dollar showed little reaction to the widely expected decision.
The data are arriving on an abbreviated day for traders. The stock market closes three hours early, at noon, ahead of the July Fourth holiday.
In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 56.650, or 0.50 percent, to 11,272.01.
Broader stock indicators traded mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.75, or 0.46 percent, to 1,267.27, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.51, or 0.02 percent, to 2,250.95.
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