Stock Futures Extend Gains After Jobs Report

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U.S. stock-index futures extended a rally in the last session as traders reviewed fresh data on the labor market that matched expectations.

Today's Markets

As of 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 50 points, or 0.29%, to 16868, S&P 500 futures gained 4.3 point , or 0.23%, to 1943 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9.2 points, or 0.24%, to 3786.

Wall Street jumped to new highs on Thursday in a rally driven by dovish moves taken by the European Central Bank. It was perhaps the most exciting day for the market in the last few weeks, which have been marked by low-volume, low-price-move action.

The U.S. economy tacked on 217,000 jobs in May, slightly below Wall Street estimates of 218,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.3%, compared to expectations of 6.4%. The labor force participation rate, meanwhile, also remained unchanged in May at 62.8%. The Labor Department said the economy has now recovered all 8.7 million jobs lost during the recession.

The economy took a hit earlier this year as harsh winter weather weighed on economic activity. However, the labor market, as much of the economy, has been bouncing back as the weather has improved.

A report on consumer credit conditions from the Federal Reserve is due out later in the day.

In corporate news, UPS (NYSE:UPS) said it will promote COO David Abney to the chief executive spot as Scott Davis retires.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures rose 21 cents, or 0.21%, to $102.70 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline advanced 0.23% to $2.963 a gallon. Gold fell slightly to $1,252 a troy ounce.