Wall Street higher as Feb wage data allays inflation fears; Dow up 0.5%

US stocks gained on Friday after payrolls data showed strong job additions in February, but muted wage growth indicated a gradual rise in inflation that tempered expectations of faster interest rate increases.
Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 313,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said, its biggest increase in more than 1-1/2 years.

Average hourly earnings edged up four cents, or 0.1 percent, to $26.75 in February, a slowdown from the 0.3 percent rise in January. That lowered the year-on-year increase in average hourly earnings to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent in January.

"The great news is the labour participation rate went up, the headline numbers are great, and the average hourly earnings has settled back down into consensus," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.