Led by financial sector, Wall Street advanced Friday despite an unemployment report showed that the US economy is heading for a deep recession.

The US Labor Department said that employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.5 percent in October to 6.7 percent last month, a 15-year high. Investors concerned that the nation's economy is heading for a deep recession.

Energy stocks weighed on the big board. Crude oil slipped for a sixth day, as the market worried that global economic slowdown cut demand for energy. Exxon Mobil led energy stocks to the steepest decline among 10 industries.

Moreover, executives of automakers continued their second day testimony on the Capital Hill, aiming to convince Congress that they need a massive loan to escape bankruptcy.

The Dow Jones industrials jumped 259.18, or 3.09 percent, to 8, 635.42 after falling by 258 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 30.85, or 3.65 percent, to 876.07, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 63.75, or 4.41 percent, to 1,509.31.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2008)