Stocks open near unchanged after weaker-than-expected December payrolls rise

Stocks struggled for direction early Friday, opening near unchanged after a mixed jobs report that saw nonfarm payrolls rise by a much weaker-than-expected 199,000 in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.17% fell 78 points, or 0.2%, to 36,158, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.47% was down 0.1% at 4,693. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.01% was up less than 0.1% at 15,083. Economists had looked for payrolls to rise by 422,000. However, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% from 4.2%, compared with expectations for a decline to 4.1%.