North American markets may open higher after the release of stronger than expected job creation numbers in both Canada and the United States.

The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected in December, helping push Canada’s jobless rate back down to a 30-year low of 6.1%, Statistics Canada reported today.

StatsCan said 62,000 jobs were created.

The Canadian dollar opened at US84.96¢, up 0.02 of a cent.

South of the border, U.S. payrolls also rose more than expected in December.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 167,000 jobs last month, after growing a revised 154,000 in November and 86,000 in October, the Labor Department said Friday.

The U.S. jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.5% in December, as expected.

Crude-oil prices fell 44¢ to US$55.15 a barrel Friday morning, a day after plunging more than US$2 a barrel as warm U.S. winter weather contributed to higher-than-expected U.S. inventories of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel.

In today’s earnings news, Motorola, the world’s second-largest mobile phone maker, warned it will miss fourth-quarter financial profit targets owing to a sales shortfall in its mobile phone division.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 weakened 0.3% in London, while the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.5% in Tokyo.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index advanced 181.02 points, or 0.9%, to 20,206.6. The Hang Seng gained 1.3% on the week.

Toronto stocks fell sharply again on Thursday, as lower oil and commodity prices weighed down the market, despite a strong day in the information technology sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index sank 147.84, or 1.16%, to close at 12,553.60. The market has lost 370.06 points, or 2.86%, over the last two sessions.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with the energy index losing 3.34%.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 72.84 points, or 2.50%, to 2,843.50.

In New York, markets were up as investors cheered lower energy prices and strength in the technology, despite weak economic news, including disappointing December retail sales figures.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 6.17 points to 12,480.69, ending in positive territory after spending much of the day in the red. The S&P 500 rose 1.74 points to 1,418.34, while the Nasdaq composite index gained a strong 30.27 points to 2,453.43.