Shares on Wall Street ended mixed on Tuesday as the US jobless rate hit its highest level since 2021.

The US Labor Department reported that unemployment climbed to 4.6 percent in November, its highest level in four years.

The report, delayed by a lengthy government shutdown, also indicated that the US economy lost 105,000 jobs in October.

Hiring picked up again in November to 64,000, but this was still a slower pace than before.

"Today's US data releases were overall weaker than expected, although not as bad as some had feared either," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

He noted that market expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut in March increased to 60 percent after the jobs report, up from around 50 percent.

While poor data boosting the chance of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve can often prop up stocks, Wall Street's main indices pushed lower on signs of a weaker economy.

Separate data showed US retail sales held stable in October, while analysts had been looking for a small gain, and September's rise was revised down to 0.1 percent.

But eToro analyst Bret Kenwell pointed out that part of the report that is used for calculating gross domestic product hit its highest level since the summer.

"Today's update underscores two themes that have been in place: A resilient consumer and a cooling labour market," he said.

Meanwhile, the Brent international oil benchmark dropped below US$60 per barrel for the first time since May, while the main US crude contract, the WTI, briefly fell below US$55 per barrel for the first time since 2021.

A deal to end the war in Ukraine could ease sanctions on Russian oil, adding to oversupply concerns already weighing on the market.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a deal to end the war was closer than ever, after Washington said it offered Kyiv Nato-like security guarantees and voiced confidence Moscow would accept.

Among individual companies, Pfizer fell 3.4 percent after it projected a dip in full-year adjusted profits per share on roughly flat revenues. The big drug-maker is ramping up investments in new products to offset declines in Covid-19 revenues.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent, to 6,800, the Dow fell 0.6 percent, to 48,114, while the Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent, to 23,111. (AFP)