RTRS:METALS-Copper up as U.S. jobs data in focus, aluminium at 5-month peak
* Copper down 9 percent in year to date
* Aluminium hits highest since November
* Coming up: U.S. non-farm payrolls at 1230 GMT (Updates prices, adds comment, detail previous SYDNEY)
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Copper rose on Friday, lifted by rising speculation that a recovery in the U.S. jobs market will help spur economic growth and demand for metals while aluminium was set for its biggest weekly gain in 16 months after hitting a five-month high.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was at $6,679.25 a tonne at 1022 GMT, up 0.5 percent.
U.S. job growth likely accelerated in March as the winter's gloom started to lift, providing the strongest signal yet that economic growth was shifting into higher gear.
U.S. non-farm payrolls data is due at 1230 GMT.
"Most traders have positioned for a bullish outcome for this economic release as the bad weather is well behind us," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade.
"It is also important to keep this in mind, a strong payroll number represents a strong economy, and a strong economy always bring more demand for construction and other related industries which could also increase the demand for copper."
The metal used in power and construction is trading up just 0.2 percent this week, and 9 percent lower in the year to date.
China acted for the first time this year to steady its stumbling economy by cutting taxes for small firms and announcing plans to speed up the construction of railway lines.
The news was disappointing to the market, however, because the plan did not include new orders, but rather brought forward planned spending, analysts said.
China is the world's biggest copper consumer, accounting for around 40 percent of global refined demand.
Three-month aluminium rose 0.6 percent to $1,844.50, having earlier hit the highest since early November at $1,849.25. The market is up more than five percent this week, the most since late November, 2012.
Investors have been upbeat on aluminium after a series of capacity cutbacks by producers, including U.S. producer Alcoa which shut down 147,000 tonnes in Brazil.
Still, analysts said the gain in prices may not be sustainable, given the slowing growth in China.
"The market needs to get itself around the fact that why would China want to see prices go up," said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Sydney-based commodities firm Barratt's Bulletin.
"At the end of the day, a cheaper price is far better for China's infrastructure demand."
In industry news, copper product-maker Luvata aims to use 5 percent more copper this year, mainly driven by strong demand for its products from the United States which will help offset weaker-than-expected consumption from China.
