NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stock futures jumped Friday following a weaker-than-expected March employment report, indicating a strong start for Wall Street.

U.S. stock futures rose sharply just after the 8:30 a.m. ET Labor Department report.

Only 110,000 jobs were added to U.S. payrollls in March, versus a forecast from economists surveyed by Briefing.com for 220,000 jobs to be added. But the weaker number could be interpreted as a signal that the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to raise interest rates at a pace faster than the current one.

The February payrolls number was downwardly revised to 243,000 from an initial reading of 262,000.

The unemployment rate came in at 5.2 percent, better than the Wall Street forecast for a fall to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent.

Treasury prices, which had been at risk of a sell-off on a strong number, spiked, with yields dropping below to 4.42 percent immediately following the release. The 10-year yield was at an eight-month high of 4.64 percent Monday.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar slipped against the euro and the yen.

Oil prices were prices were higher in early trading following Thursday's rally that took prices above the $55 a barrel level again.

The May light crude contract gained 44cents to $55.84 a barrel in electronic trading, while the May contract for Brent crude rose 66 cents to $54.95.

Major markets in Asia closed mostly higher, although Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost ground. Major European markets were also up in early trading.

Besides the employment report, there are a number of economic readings due just after the market opens Friday.

At about 9:45 a.m. the revision on the University of Michigan's March survey of consumer confidence is due, with economists forecasting the index will edge down to 92.5 from 92.9 in the earlier March survey.

At 10 a.m. ET comes reports on February construction spending as well as a survey of purchasing managers on the manufacturing sector in March.

Construction spending is forecast to be up 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.7 percent gain in January, while the Institute of Supply Management index is expected to slip to 54.9 from 55.3 in February, still signaling expansion in the sector.

Later in the trading day, major automakers are set to report March sales.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.