US STOCKS-Wall St flat as data fails to ease economic fears

* Non-farm payrolls top expectations

* Procter & Gamble profit rises, stock gains

* Indexes: Dow, S&P up 0.2 pct, Nasdaq off 0.1 pct

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to open)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks seesawed, trading little changed on Friday as a better-than-expected payrolls report did little to alleviate fears of a double-dip recession.

Equity indexes oscillated between gains and losses several times in the first hour of the volatile session.

U.S. non-farm payrolls increased to 117,000 jobs versus forecasts of a gain of 85,000, while the unemployment rate edged lower. For details, see [ID:nOAT004847]

Analysts said deep-rooted economic problems both in the United States and globally, which had sparked a recent selloff, were eclipsing the jobs report.

"(It) doesn't solve anything. View it more as a selling opportunity rather than a reason to get back involved on the long side," said Michael Marrale, managing director and head of sales trading at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

"The prior revision up is encouraging, but at the end of the day, we are coming off the back of last Friday's weak GDP number, Monday's ISM report, and we are starting to hear some company commentary that we may be heading into or already be in a recession."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 24.37 points, or 0.21 percent, to 11,408.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 2.26 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,202.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 2.33 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,554.06.

Credit Suisse reduced its year-end view on the S&P 500 to 1,350 from 1,450, citing weaker-than-expected growth. [ID:nN1E7740GJ]

After initially falling more than 10 percent, the CBOE Volatility index <.VIX> reversed course and rose 0.9 percent, hitting its highest level since July 2010.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For graphic on top 10 biggest moves in the VIX since 1990

http://r.reuters.com/rur92s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Thursday, the Dow and the S&P tumbled more than 4 percent and the Nasdaq lost 5 percent on fears the United States was staring at another recession and Europe's sovereign debt crisis would swallow two of its largest economies.

In the latest earnings news, Procter & Gamble Co edged up 0.7 percent to $59.98 after the world's largest household products maker posted a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, but gave an earnings forecast that fell short of expectations. [ID:nN1E7711TU]

With 87 percent of S&P 500 companies reporting results, 72 percent posted earnings above expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Bank of America Corp lost 1.5 percent to $8.70. The big U.S. bank said legal losses could total another $2.3 billion to cover litigation tied to state and federal probes into home foreclosures and investor lawsuits over soured securities. [ID:nN1E773237]

Earlier economic reports showed U.S. growth stalling in the first half, while the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed more than expected in July. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)