Stock futures little changed before jobs report

[August 06, 2010]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock futures traded in a tight range as investors avoid any big bets before the Labor Department's monthly employment report.

High unemployment is often cited as the single most important component slowing an economic recovery. A lack of hiring has kept people concerned about their jobs, which in turn leads them to cut down their spending. A drop in consumer spending has helped lead to a slowdown in growth over the past few months.

The Labor Department is expected to say 65,000 jobs were cut in July and the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in June, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters. However, the loss of jobs is primarily from the government laying off temporary census workers.

So investors will more be focused on hiring by private employers, which accounts for the bulk of jobs in the country. Economists expect private employers added 90,000 jobs last month after adding 83,000 a month earlier. Expanding hiring by private employers would likely ease recent concerns that the economy could fall back into recession.

Economic data over the past three months has pointed to a slowdown in growth, and investors are unsure just how much more the recovery will weaken. A disappointing employment report would probably add to fears that the recovery will worsen during the second half of the year.

Investors will also be digging into other details in the report for cues about the health of the economy. Average hourly earnings likely rose 0.1 percent last month after falling 0.1 percent in June, while the average work week remained unchanged at 34.1 hours.

The work week details are also considered important because it shows how much work employers are squeezing out of current staff. If it climbs too high, productivity of current workers gets exhausted and employers must then turn to hiring new employees to handle the extra work.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 6, or 0.1 percent, to 10,641. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.00, or 0.1 percent, to 1,124.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 2.00, or 0.1 percent, to 1,899.00.

Bond prices also showed little movement leading up to the jobs report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, was unchanged at 2.91 percent compared with late Thursday.

Reports over the past two days provided conflicting signs about the jobs market, which has led to mixed days for stocks. On Wednesday, major indexes rose after payroll company ADP said private employers added 42,000 jobs last month, slightly more than expected. On Thursday, stocks dropped slightly after the Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.1 percent.

[Associated Press; By STEPHEN BERNARD]

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