NEW YORK - Stocks zigzagged in light trading Friday as investors found some positives for the market in a surprisingly weak jobs report.

The Labor Department said employers cut more jobs than expected in October, pushing the unemployment rate above 10 percent for the first time since 1983. However, the pace of job losses slowed.

The rise in joblessness, while not welcome news for the economy, reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hold interest rates lower for some time. That at times weakened demand for the dollar, which gave a boost to stocks.

"We got data today that suggests that interest rates are going to be on hold for a while," said Max Bublitz, chief strategist at SCM Advisors.

When the dollar is weaker, U.S. goods are cheaper for buyers overseas. Companies that do business overseas also get a profit boost when their earnings are translated back into dollars.

Safe-haven assets like Treasurys were mixed. Oil prices tumbled and gold topped $1,100 an ounce for the first time. Gold benefits when investors are worried about a weak dollar and inflation.

The jobs report bodes poorly for consumer spending, a key driver of the economy. Economists say stronger consumer spending will be necessary to sustain a recovery.

The Labor Department said employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 219,000 jobs lost in September, but more than forecast. The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September.

The market has been expecting unemployment to top 10 percent before peaking. But the pace of job losses has accelerated and the rate is likely to go higher.

In the final hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.13, or less than 0.1 percent, to 10,004.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.63, or 0.1 percent, to 1,067.26, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.30, or 0.2 percent, to 2,109.62.

Falling stocks narrowly outpaced those that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 837 million shares compared with 1.1 billion traded at the same point Thursday.

Bond prices were mixed. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose, pushing its yield down to 3.52 percent from 3.53 percent late Thursday.

Oil fell $2.12 to settle at $77.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose $6.40 to settle at $1,095.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding 5.3 percent for the week.

Jeffrey Friedman, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a futures brokerage, said the market has risen too high so some break is in order.

"Over all, the market is a little overbought," he said. "We're still losing jobs. 10.2 is not a good number.