Stocks were mixed but mostly higher Friday as the market mulled the the economy’s health following weaker-than-expected job growth last month.

The Labor Department said the nation’s employers added 56,000 jobs in October, half the 100,000 increase economists forecast and signaling to investors that the economy is slowly recovering from the blows delivered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Wall Street also focused on September’s job loss, which was scaled back to just 8,000 from a previous 35,000 decrease. That news suggested the hurricanes’ impact was less than feared, although the department said their effect is still unclear.