FINANCIAL MARKETS

NEW YORK—Not great, but good enough: U.S. stocks rose Friday as investors viewed a relatively weak jobs report for August as likely to help keep interest rates low. Banks, energy companies and automakers led the way.

The Labor Department said U.S. employers added 156,000 jobs in August. That was a bit less than analysts expected, but investors were pleased that the economy kept growing at a steady pace while inflation remains weak. They bet that will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates too quickly. Car companies rose as they reported their August sales. Wall Street expects them to get a boost as Gulf Coast residents replace the hundreds of thousands of cars that have been damaged by rains and flooding this week. Banks rose as bond prices dropped, which sent yields and interest rates higher.

The pattern of slow but steady job gains and weak inflation has helped push stocks higher for years. Investors have worried at times that the Federal Reserve would raise rates too fast and that the economy would stumble.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.90 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,476.55. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 39.46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 21,987.56. The blue chip index had its first change in more than two years on Friday, as longtime Dow component DuPont combined with former rival Dow Chemical to form DowDuPont. The Nasdaq composite added 6.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,435.33. It was the best week this year for the Nasdaq as technology and health care companies surged. The index is at record highs.

While businesses continue to hire workers at a steady pace, inflation is well still below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent. The Fed has raised interest rates three times in the last year and says it plans to raise rates once more this year, and three times in 2018. But based on reports like Friday’s, investors don’t think that will happen.

Benchmark U.S. crude added 6 cents to $47.29 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 11 cents to $52.75 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline prices, which have surged this week, declined 3 cents to $1.75 a gallon.

Wholesale gasoline prices have climbed because of rains and flooding in the Gulf Coast. At least two major pipelines have been slowed or stopped, and oil drilling and refining have also been curtailed.

In other energy trading, heating oil was little changed at $1.75 a gallon. Natural gas rose 3 cents to $3.07 per 1,000 cubic feet.