Flat Finish for Wall Street

Updated from 4:15 p.m. EST

Stocks had an upbeat start after government employment data was right in line with estimates Friday, but the early gains gradually faded and the market ended little changed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.62 points, or 0.13%, to 12,276.32. The S&P 500 was up 0.96 point, or 0.07%, at 1402.85, and the Nasdaq Composite was lower by 0.18 point, or 0.01%, at 2387.55.

On the Dow, only 14 of its 30 components finished with gains, led by a 2.2% rise in Alcoa (AA Quote).

Meanwhile, losses in Amgen (AMGN Quote), Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI Quote), XM Satellite Radio (XMSR Quote) and CH Robinson Worldwide (CHRW Quote) combined to sink the Nasdaq.

Roughly 2.68 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Advancers beat decliners by a 3-to-2 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.93 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 8 to 7.

Over the last five sessions, the Dow added 1.3% and the S&P 500 gained 1.2%, compared to heavy losses the previous week. The Nasdaq rose 0.8% for the week.

The jobs report, one of the most important pieces of data the government releases every month, showed that 97,000 workers were added to U.S. payrolls in February. Economists had expected 95,000 positions to have been created, according to a Bloomberg poll.

The jobless rate eased to 4.5% from 4.6%. No change had been anticipated. Average hourly earnings, a key inflation metric, rose a greater-than-expected 0.4%.