U.S. jobs data poor but shares stay up

By Burton Frierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street and European shares rose on Friday as investors were relieved that U.S. jobs figures did not live up to pessimists' worst fears after a deluge of horrific economic reports this week.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said fixing the economy would take time, which removed some of the froth from stocks' gains, but he added that economic stimulus, job creation and help for the auto industry were top priorities.

U.S. employers slashed an unexpectedly steep 240,000 jobs in October but financial markets had braced for a much worse outcome in the days before release of the data.

Bargain hunters bought beaten-down stocks after the report and equities' exuberance pummelled government bonds, which generally benefit more from weak economic news.

However, the jobs report gave few signs of hope for the future and Obama's news conference illustrated the high level of anxiety in markets to learn how the new leadership in Washington will tackle the economic slump.

"He is showing he will be ready to hit the ground running and that should provide some confidence to markets," said Greg Salvaggio, senior currency trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington.

"But the truth is that this economy is haemorrhaging. The jobs report earlier today was awful, news from General Motors were awful and his comments today won't be able to change that."

The price of oil, which is sensitive to economic growth prospects, overcame losses to rise back near $61 a barrel and gold also gained. The U.S. dollar slipped against the euro.