TORONTO - North American markets ended Friday in positive territory as investors shook off disappointing employment figures and went hunting for stock deals.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index rose 40.80 points to close at 9,596.21, capping off another turbulent week of triple-digit swings in both directions.

But the index ended the week more than one per cent lower as lingering sentiment about deeper economic problems next year partnered with a further shift lower in oil prices.

The TSX energy sector fell one per cent Friday as the price of crude ended down 10 per cent from a week earlier as the near-month light sweet crude contract closed the session up 27 cents at US$61.04 a barrel.

The mining index headed the advance by climbing six per cent as Sherritt International Corp. (TSX:S) increased seven per cent, or 23 cents, to $3.41.

The TSX Venture Exchange moved up 1.72 points to 921.85.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.26 of a cent to 84.18 cents US on Friday.

Statistics Canada said the jobless rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.2 per cent for October, as the economy beat expectations by adding 9,500 jobs.

But the results weren't as rosy when factoring in that the increase was tied to the addition of 40,00 public-sector administrative workers, mostly for the federal election. Private-sector employers cut 20,000 positions which had analysts suggesting that further erosion is on the horizon.

In the United States, job numbers were more dismaying. The Labour Department said American employers cut 240,000 jobs in October, hurtling the unemployment rate to a 14-year high of 6.5 per cent. The report also said 284,000 jobs were lost in September -- many more than the 159,000 originally reported.

However, buyers returned to Wall Street markets after two dismal days.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 248.02 points to 8,943.81. The Nasdaq composite index rose 38.70 to 1,647.40 while the S&P 500 moved up 26.11 to 930.99.

Bad news piled up from the auto industry, with General Motors Corp. reporting a US$2.5 billion loss in the third quarter, or $4.45 a share.

Ford Motor Co. reported a third-quarter net loss of US$129 million as it burned through $7.7 billion in cash. Ford also said it is cutting 10 per cent of its North American salaried workforce.

German automaker Daimler AG said its global sales in October slid 18 per cent from a year earlier.

Although the day's news was worse than expected, investors were drawn by prices beaten down the past two sessions.

"We're coming off of a very oversold market that had already braced itself for bad news out of Detroit and certainly bad economic data in terms of the labour report," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.

On the TSX, gold stocks were ahead 4.9 per cent. The December bullion contract ended ahead $2 to US$734.20 an ounce -- ending the week up 2.2 per cent.

The base metals sector dropped 2.1 per cent and telecom was down 1.1 per cent.

In earnings, the tightening economy wore into results at several Canadian companies.

Air Canada (TSX:AC.A) shares lost 16 per cent -- or 86 cents to $4.50 -- after it posted a net loss of $132 million in the third quarter as the airline's fuel bill soared 49 per cent to $1.1 billion.

Tim Hortons Inc. (TSX:THI) shares were up 78 cents to $30.18 after a 16.9 per cent rise in third-quarter profit to $78.8 million as revenue sweetened 3.8 per cent to $509 million. The company plans to close some of its restaurants in southern New England due to weak sales.

Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) reported third-quarter earnings of $45.6 million, up from a year-ago loss of $35.2 million, with the improvement driven by the media and telecommunications group's Videotron cable subsidiary, against "disappointing results in publishing and at Sun Media." Its shares slid $1.55 to $19.10.

Telus Corp. (TSX:T) reported a 30 per cent decline in third-quarter net income to $285.1 million, while revenue grew six per cent to $2.45 billion. Its shares were down $1.50 to $39.29.

Dundee Precious Metals Inc. (TSX:DPM) stock tumbled 20 per cent, or 49 cents to $1.96, after the firm said it struck an underwriting deal to raise up to C$70 million for financing development of its gold-copper mine in Bulgaria.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (TSX:POT) has reached agreements with United Steelworkers locals representing a total of about 500 unionized employees at three of its potash operations. Shares moved $1.57 higher to $95.82.