WASHINGTON — Employers nearly doubled the number of jobs they added to payrolls in May, allowing the unemployment rate to hold steady at a relatively low 4.5 percent.

The fresh employment picture provided by the Labor Department on Friday showed job creation bounced back, with payrolls growing by 157,000 last month. That was an improvement over the 80,000 new jobs generated in April, the fewest in two and a half years.

Jobseekers found more opportunities last month in healthcare, education, accounting, engineering, Internet-related activities, banking, food services and government. However, they met fewer job availabilities in manufacturing and retailing, which cut positions. Construction jobs were flat. Those pockets of weakness mostly reflected problems related to the troubled housing and automotive industries.

———

DOW JONES FAMILY WARMING UP TO BEING SOLD

NEW YORK — The family that controls Dow Jones & Co. says it is warming to the idea of selling the company to Rupert Murdoch or someone else, citing the "evolving competitive environment" in which the publisher of The Wall Street Journal operates.

To get an idea of just how fast that world is evolving, look no further than a blockbuster deal to combine two major financial news providers, Thomson Corp. and Reuters Group PLC, which first leaked out just two days after the Bancroft family's initial dismissal of Murdoch's bid in early May.

That deal, currently worth $17.8 billion, will create the world's largest provider of real-time financial news and information, putting Dow Jones in an even tougher spot as it tries to expand its presence in electronic media.

Dow Jones has been diversifying beyond printed newspapers for years, building up its paid subscription Web site, consolidating its ownership of the news database Factiva and acquiring an online financial news site called MarketWatch.

———

WAL-MART SHARES JUMP ON NEWS OF SCALEBACKS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart shares rose almost 4 percent Friday after it said will scale back the number of planned U.S. superstore openings this year by more than 25 percent, a move that will drop its capital expenditures by $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will open between 190 and 200 new supercenters in the U.S. during its current 2008 fiscal year, with an average of 170 supercenters each year for the coming three years.

Last year, the retailer said it planned to open between 265 and 270 supercenters in 2008. Approximately 80 of the supercenters originally scheduled to open next year will now open in 2009.

———

GAS, OIL FUTURES RISE

NEW YORK — Gasoline and oil futures jumped Friday on continued concerns that domestic refineries aren't producing enough gas to meet peak summer driving demand.

Retail prices, on the other hand, retreated further from last week's record highs. The national average price of a gallon of gas fell to $3.184 a gallon, down 0.7 cent overnight and off 4.3 cents since the May 24 record of $3.227.

But gasoline futures for July delivery rose 4.14 cents a gallon to settle at $2.2446 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while July light, sweet crude futures jumped $1.07 to settle at $65.08 a barrel.

The increase in gasoline futures prices came despite Thursday's Energy Department inventory report, which showed that gas supplies grew by 1.3 million barrels in the week ended May 25. Many analysts said investors largely shrugged off the increase, unconvinced that inventories are growing fast enough to meet demand.

———

MANUFACTURING INDEX RISES TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN YEAR

NEW YORK — For the fourth month in a row, the nation's factories, plants, mines and utilities, among others, have been humming along, overcoming rising prices for food and fuel that have helped drag down the rest of the economy.

The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its manufacturing index rose in May to its highest level in a year, providing hope that the economy will continue to expand despite a housing slump and rising gas prices.

The index registered 55, above the April reading of 54.7 and higher than the market expectation of 54. It hit 54.7 in May 2006.