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 The department's report on payrolls and unemployment, due at 8:30 a.m. EST
(related article), has been a focus of investors for weeks as they try to determine whether the economy will continue to benefit from robust consumer spending even as sectors like home construction, mortgage writing and manufacturing slow.
Wall Street is concerned that areas of weakness could puncture growth and even tip the economy into recession if consumers can't depend on a solid job market.
Economists predict a smaller gain in payrolls in the final month of the year than in November, and expect the unemployment rate to have risen to 4.8 percent from the previous month's 4.7 percent.
Further clarity on the health of the economy could come Friday when the Institute for Supply Management releases its December index of non-manufacturing activity. Economists predict slightly weaker expansion than in November.
Ahead of the jobs report, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 33, or 0.25 percent, to 13,176.
Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.60, or 0.25 percent, to 1,462.30, and the Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 1.75, or 0.08 percent, to 2,078.00.
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 Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.91 percent from 3.89 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell 21 cents to $98.97 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil touched $100 per barrel this week for the first time, stirring concerns about inflation.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 4.03 percent after being closed for a long holiday. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.98 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.32 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.11 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/
[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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