Wall Street made a muted advance Friday but still finished the week lower after a better-than-expected employment report raised hopes about the economy’s strength despite recent hurricanes.

The Labor Department said that September payrolls, while down for the first time in two years, fell by only 35,000 jobs. Fearing an economic slump in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, economists had forecast a drop of 150,000.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.62 percent, the S&P 500 lost 2.68 percent and the Nasdaq fell 2.84 percent.