Friday’s report capped a week of mostly encouraging data on the job market, including an update indicating layoffs remain relatively low. Such strength helps allay one of Wall Street’s top questions: whether the job market will continue to hold up after the Federal Reserve earlier kept interest rates at a two-decade high.

Asian shares were mostly higher Friday after worsening tensions in the Middle East sent stocks lower on Wall Street while boosting crude prices. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to finish at 38,