Futures Jump After Jobs Report

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U.S. stock-index futures climbed on Friday after a key report showed the U.S. economy added slightly more jobs than expected in May, with the unemployment rate unexpectedly edging higher.

Today's Markets

As of 8:37 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 61 points to 15097, S&P 500 futures rose 8.5 points to 1631 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15.3 points to 2965.

The Federal Reserve and the American economy have been two themes that have driven Wall Street this week. The Dow and broader S&P 500 have both shed 0.5% despite a comeback rally in late trading on Thursday.

The jobs report -- generally considered the key economic event of the month -- is taking on even more significance amid traders' near obsession with when the Fed will begin tapering its giant bond-buying operation, dubbed QE3. That's because the central bank has a dual mandate to keep the unemployment rate near its natural level, while keeping inflation in check.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose by 175,000 in May, beating Wall Street’s expectations by 5,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.6% for the month from 7.5% in April. The Labor force participation rate came in at 63.4% from 63.3% in April.

Elsewhere, markets in Japan, which have flown higher this year, waded into bear-market territory overnight before rebounding somewhat.

Oil and gasoline futures were in the green. The benchmark U.S. crude oil contract climbed 44 cents, or 0.46%, to $95.20 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline climbed 0.33% to $2.86 a gallon. In metals, gold fell $7.30, or 0.5%, to $1,409 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.03% to 2675, the English FTSE 100 dipped 0.06% to 6332 and the German DAX slumped 0.29% to 8075.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 ticked down by 0.21% to 12878 and the Chinese Hang Seng sold off by 1.2% to 21575.