The US Stock futures traded higher ahead of the release Friday of the monthly U.S. jobs report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 53 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 index added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite index shed 0.1%.
On Friday markets open higher with the major averages were up sharply earlier in the day. The Dow briefly traded more than 250 points higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq climbed 0.8% each before easing.
For the week, S&P 500 and Dow were up 2% and 1%, respectively, which puts them on track for their biggest weekly advance since July. The Nasdaq is up nearly 3% week to date, also on pace for its best one-week performance since July.
The unemployment rate jumps according to the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, it showed that the unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.8% in August, by attaining its highest level in more than a year. Whereas, the economists had expected it to remain at 3.5%.
This is also another sign of a slowing economy and easing the pricing pressures, with the average hourly earnings increased 4.29% on a year-over-year basis, less than the 4.4% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The August payrolls grew at a faster-than-expected pace, with 187,000 being added. However, job numbers first reported for June and July were revised down by a combined 110,000.
