By James Langton

(December 8 – 09:00 ET) – With signs of a hard landing building in the U.S. economy, economists were cheered this morning when a stronger than expected jobs report was released in the U.S.

The data for November showed non-farm payrolls up 94,000, the unemployment rate sitting at 4%, and average hourly earnings up 0.4%. There has been some fear that the numbers would reveal disintegration in the U.S. job market, in anticipation of recession.

While the jobs data was positive, the earnings news from Intel Corp., the world’s biggest computer-chip maker, was bad. After the bell last night, the firm announced that fourth-quarter sales will miss its forecasts because of “large cancellations by customers worldwide.” Fortunately, the market had been hearing these rumours and had priced in some padding. The stock fell immediately in the after hours, but soon recovered.

In Canada, the annual rate of housing starts fell 5.5% in November to 155,800 units. That compares with 164,900 in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Urban singles starts were up 8.7% to 77,600 units, compared to 71,400 in October while urban multiples starts decreased 21.2% from 72,300 units in October to 57,000 in November.

In Europe, stocks seem to be shaking off the Intel news. Stocks are up, led by techs such as Alcatel SA. Bargain hunting seems to be driving the trade. The FTSE in London is up 79 points to 6311. The Paris CAC 40 has gained 91 points to 6076. Germany’s DAX is up 124 points to 6690.

Overnight in Asia, stocks closed the week in mixed fashion. The Nikkei dropped 24 points to 14696.The Hang Seng added 178 points to 15189.

In M&A news, Bayer AG has hired Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank AG to “explore its options’. It is expected to be a hostile takeover target.

In other news, the UK’s Equitable Life Assurance, the world’s oldest customer-owned insurer, is shutting down after it failed to find a buyer.