STORY: A closely-watched report from the U.S. Labor Department on Friday showed job growth surged in November, raising bets that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates later this month.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 jobs, more than what economists polled by Reuters had expected.

It was a significant bounce-back from October, when job growth was hindered by hurricanes and labor strikes.

The job gains were led by the healthcare sector, followed close behind by leisure and hospitality.

The labor market's resilience has been driving the economy, with the report also showing solid wage growth last month.

Financial markets now see a roughly 90% chance of a quarter-percentage-point rate cut at the Federal Reserve's mid-December policy meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The report also showed the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.2%, but still at a historically low level.

Wall Street's main indexes edged higher on Friday after the report's release, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touching intraday record highs.