Wall Street opens flat despite jobs data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened flat on Wednesday, with the milestone level of 17,000 still elusive for the Dow industrials, following a sharp rise for Wall Street in the previous session.

The lack of movement in early trading came despite data showing the U.S. private sector created many more jobs than expected last month.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 0.39 points or 0 percent, to 16,956.46, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.04 points or 0 percent, to 1,973.28 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 1.33 points or 0.03 percent, to 4,459.98.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Bernadette Baum)