US stocks flat on mixed jobs data, Europe worries

Wall Street stock markets flatlined Friday as traders digested mixed jobs market data and worried about Europe's ability to respond to a growing eurozone debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.97 points (0.02 percent) to 12,018.06 in closing trade. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.73 point (0.03 percent) to 2,626.93, while the S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, slipped 0.34 point (0.03 percent) to 1,244.24. Stocks pared modest opening gains "as traders grapple with a mixed US Labor report and continued uncertainty regarding the eurozone?s ability to successfully combat the festering debt crisis," Charles Schwab analysts said in a client note. The analysts said that traders may be treading with some caution ahead of the weekend and a key European Union summit on the eurozone crisis Thursday and Friday. In its highly anticipated monthly jobs market report, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate dropped to a 32-month low of 8.6 percent in November. It was the sharpest decline since December, and surprised most analysts who forecast the jobless rate would hold steady at 9.0 percent for a second straight month.