US Stock Traded Higher ahead of U.S. Jobs Report

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.