US STOCKS-Wall St flat as broker upgrades offset jobs data

* U.S. unemployment highest in more than 26 years

* GE shares rise after upgrade

* Dow & S&P 500 down 0.1 pct, Nasdaq up 0.01 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to late morning, changes byline)

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed in choppy trading on Friday as brokerage upgrades offset data showing the unemployment rate soared to 10.2 percent last month, its highest in more than 26 years.

General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which jumped 5.5 percent to $15.24 after a brokerage upgrade, and helped lead the industrial sector higher. The S&P industrials gained 0.9 percent.

The market fell at the open and briefly turned positive after a closer look at the report showed payroll losses continued to decline and job losses for earlier months were revised lower. For details see [ID:nN06178752] and [ID:nN06177960].

"The headline numbers look terrible, but for traders and investors looking for trends, a closer look at the report shows that there is a trend of slowed job losses," said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co, Inc.