Weak job numbers weigh on share market The Australian share market has closed lower on signs a recovery in employment levels is some time off. Official data shows the unemployment rate held steady at 6.2 per cent in October, with the total number of people with jobs rising by 24,100. Economists were expecting the jobless rate to fall to 6.1 per cent. The disappointing figures reversed early gains made on the back of Wall Street hitting fresh highs overnight, City Index senior market analyst Kara Ordway said. "The numbers reaffirm what a lot of people suspected about the unemployment market - that it's nowhere near recovery mode," she said. A lot of analysts are not expecting an uptick in employment until late 2015. She said investors were also consolidating ahead of the release of US employment data on Friday night, Australian time. Softer iron ore prices have dented resource stocks. BHP Billiton was down four cents at $33.78, Rio Tinto fell 16 cents to $60.00 and iron ore pure play Fortescue Metals shed 28 cents to $3.03. Energy stocks were higher after oil prices rebounded slightly, with Woodside Petroleum up 22 cents at $34.35, Santos up three cents at $12.54 and Oil Search up 12 cents at $8.62. Among the top performers was Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It gained $1.12, or 6.6 per cent, to $18.08 after a lift in its first quarter earnings. The owner of Amart Sports and Rebel Sport chains, the Super Retail Group, gained 85 cents, or 12.06 per cent, to $7.90 on speculation large foreign sports retailers want to buy a large stake in the company. Commonwealth Bank was down 37 cents at $81.19, Westpac had fallen 18 cents to $34.41, ANZ had shed 19 cents to $33.60 and National Australia Bank was 24 cents weaker at $34.18. Engineering and property services firm UGL lost $1.01, or 14.64 per cent, to $5.89 after it warned of a $180 million cost blowout to a joint venture power station in northern Australia. At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 11.8 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 5,506.1. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 13.6 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,479.2. The December share price index futures contract was nine points lower at 5,495, with 26,745 contracts traded. The price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEDT was $US1145.60 per fine ounce, down $US17.20 on Wednesday's price of $US1162.80. National turnover was 1.5 billion securities worth $4.1 billion.