September started off pretty well for most of the companies on our Huntsville and Alabama Stock Report ahead of the three-day Labor Day weekend.

Community Health Systems picked up a sizable 5.6% gain on Friday.

Synovus led the banking gainers at 3.6%. Louisiana-Pacific rose 2.9%, while Carpenter Technology increased 2.7%.

Tyson took the biggest loss at 1.3%.

Overall, a choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended Friday with slight gains for stocks, as the market notched its second straight winning week.

The market got a boost early on from a closely watched government report that showed U.S. job growth increased at a healthy, but more moderate pace last month. The report supports investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates again in its bid to lower inflation.