US stocks have opened higher after a mediocre US jobs report raised doubts that the Federal Reserve will soon scale back its aggressive bond-buying program.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.62 (0.29 per cent) to 14,980.10.

The broad-based S&P 500 increased 5.69 (0.34 per cent) to 1,660.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 11.98 (0.33 per cent) at 3,670.77.

The monthly Labor Department report said the US added 169,000 jobs in August, below analyst projections of 177,000. The report also lowered the estimates for jobs added in June and July.

Heading into Friday, markets had anticipated that a solid jobs report would result in the Fed scaling back its $US85 billion per-month bond-buying program, perhaps at its September policy meeting.

But Friday’s report “hasn’t provided any closure on the question pertaining to the timing of a tapering announcement from the Fed,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury, which went above 3.0 per cent before the report, slipped back to 2.91 per cent, suggesting the market believes a quick taper is less likely.