Stocks were slipping on Friday after the December jobs report missed expectations, but markets remained confident that the Federal Reserve will act rather quickly to lift interest rates. The report was stronger than it looked on the surface. 

Shortly after the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 64 points, or 0.2%, after the index fell 170 points Thursday to close at 36,236. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% lower.

The…