Mexico stocks rise on U.S. jobs report, peso slips

MEXICO CITY, June 5 (Reuters) - Mexican stocks rose on Friday as investors reacted positively to a U.S. jobs report that added to the belief that the worst of the global economic downturn had passed.

The benchmark IPC stock index .MXX rose 0.48 percent to 24,866 points.

The U.S. government said on Friday employers cut 345,000 jobs in May, less than economists had expected. The job losses and rising numbers of people looking for work pushed the U.S. unemployment rate up to 9.4 percent, its highest since July 1983.

Mexico's economy has been battered by the deep recession in the United States which has slammed demand for Mexican exports. The Mexican government expects the economy to contract by 5.5 percent this year in what would be its worst performance since 1995.

The peso currency MXN= MEX01 fell 0.49 percent to 13.29 per dollar after the jobs report.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond MX10YT=RR rose 7 basis points to 8.0 percent.

In stock trading, market heavyweight America Movil (AMXL.MX) was up 1.18 percent at 24.88 pesos per share. Retailer Grupo Elektra (ELEKTRA.MX) was the biggest drag on the broader market, falling 0.7 percent to 666.49 pesos. (Reporting by Robert Campbell, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)