NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street went wild last Thursday after the Federal Reserve softened its stance on future rate hikes, but as a new week gets underway, stocks will need fresh support from economic indicators.

This week is likely to start off slowly - stock markets will close early Monday and all day Tuesday in observance of Independence Day.

But the end of the week brings some economic readings that will provide clues about the pace of economic growth and the interest rate outlook. (See chart for details.)

The highlight will be the monthly employment report, due Friday.

"It could be a market moving report. People will be keying in on growth," said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, a money management firm.

The past two monthly employment numbers have been disappointing, and economists are expecting another soft number - they expect that 168,000 jobs were added in June. If the figure comes in much lower than anticipated, then that could spark concerns that economic growth is slowing, Nolte said.

Stocks have struggled in recent weeks as investors worried that in an effort to ward off inflation, the Fed would raise rates too much and choke off economic growth and corporate profits.

All three major gauges slipped into the loss column for the year earlier this month before rebounding, although the tech-fueled Nasdaq remains in the red.

The Dow has climbed 3.8 percent so far this year and the S&P is up 1.7 percent, but the Nasdaq is still down 1.5 percent.

Last Thursday, central bank policy-makers hiked the target for a key interest rate to 5.25 percent as expected, but softened some of the language in the accompanying policy statement.

Many market watchers say the latest statement from the Fed is a sign that it may be ready to draw an end to its now two-year old rate-hiking campaign.

The words "some further" rate increases "may yet be needed" were missing from Thursday's statement, instead replaced with language saying future decisions will depend on the latest economic numbers. (Read the statement.)

The statement propelled a major stock rally Thursday. The Dow Industrials logged its biggest point gain since March 2003 and the biggest one-day percentage gain since April 2005.

The Nasdaq also posted one of its best percentage gains in over two years, and the biggest point gain in over three, according to Jeff Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac.

The Dow finished the week up 1.4 percent, the broader S&P 500 index added 2 percent on the week, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was 2.3 percent higher.

But it remains to be seen whether stocks will be able to follow through on last week's rally.

The Fed is sill in "data dependent" mode, market analysts say, and economic reports are still going to be closely scrutinized.

"No one can anticipate [the Fed's] action in August until we see the economic numbers," James Stack, president of InvesTech Research said.

"I would expect the next several months to be a roller coaster ride, with perhaps smaller dips," he said.

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