From correspondents in New York, United States, 08:00 AM IST

Major US stock indices and the dollar were pushed higher Friday after government figures indicated a sharp decline in the pace of job losses in the United States.

Only 11,000 jobs were shed in November and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent on the month, down from 10.2 percent in October, according to the Labour Department.

The news surprised economists, who had still been expecting losses of more than 100,000 jobs on the month. President Barack Obama called the figures 'modestly encouraging news' but warned that 'we've still got a long way to go' before a real recovery takes hold.

US stocks rallied more than 1 percent almost immediately after opening on the labour report, but the climbing dollar seemed to pare back much of those gains throughout the day.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)