The Toronto Stock Exchange enjoyed a third straight session of gains on Friday after Statistics Canada reported a surprising boost in employment in August.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 95.98 points, or 0.9%, to close at 11,017.47. The benchmark index finished the week up a modest 40 points from last Friday’s close,

Energy stocks led the gains, advancing 1.5% on Friday, as oil futures edged slightly higher. Crude for October delivery gained 6 cents, or 0.1%, to US$68.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The commodity finished the week down 6.5%, marking its steepest weekly loss since early July.

Shares of Suncor Energy Inc. jumped 2.9% after it said it expects to eliminate about 1,000 jobs and cut spending after buying Petro-Canada. Suncor shares closed at $34.00, up 95 cents.

Shares of oil and gas explorer Petro Andina Resources Inc. surged more than 10% after the company said it had accepted a $359-million takeover offer from Pluspetrol Resources Corp. The company’s stock rose 99¢ to $10.42.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. rose 3.8% to $13.80 and Nexen Inc. added 1.5% to $22.20.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. finished at $63.51, up $1.14, or 1.8%.

Meanwhile, the financials group gained 1.3% on Friday.

Insurance firms saw their stocks advance. Shares of Manulife Financial Corp. rose 2.3% to $21.57 and Sun Life Financial Inc. gained 2.1% to $31.79.

Other gainers included Toronto-Dominion Bank, up 1.9% to $67.20, and Bank of Nova Scotia, higher by 1.4% to $44.82.

Royal Bank of Canada edged up 1.1% to $56.40.

The materials group and the sub-gold index both finished lower on Friday, falling 0.5% and 1.2%, respectively, as gold futures retreated. December gold futures, the most active contract, slid US$1.00 to end at US$996.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Despite Friday’s dip, the contract had its best week in more than four months, adding 4%.

Goldcorp Inc.’s stock retreated by 1.6% to $44.95.

Shares of Iamgold Corp. tumbled 6% to $15.03 and Yamana Gold Inc. fell 2.5% to $11.45.

Higher for the day was Agrium Inc., up 1.1% to $53.89, and Teck Resources Ltd., up 1.3% to $26.50.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 13.74 points, or 1.1%, to close at 1,229.25.

The loonie soared higher on Friday’s employment data, adding nearly a cent and a half to close at US92.02¢.

In New York, U.S. stocks also experienced gains on Friday as the U.S. Labour Department reported that non-farm payrolls fell by 216,000 in August, marking a more modest decline than economists had expected. But the main stock market indices south of the border incurred losses for the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 96.66 points, or 1%, to end at 9,441.27. The blue chip average finished down 1.1% from the week-ago close.

The S&P 500 index climbed 13.16 points, or 1.3%, to close at 1,016.40, off 1.2% for the week.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 35.58 points, or 1.8%, to end at 2,018.78, leaving it 0.5% lower on the week.

IE