A good, but not great, jobs number pointed to a positive open on Wall Street Friday.
The government's monthly report showed that the economy added 175,000 job in May, more than the 158,000 economists were expecting. The unemployment rate edged up to 7.6% from 7.5% in April.
U.S. stock futures edged up slightly following the data, after holding steady earlier in the morning.
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The monthly jobs report is always a big focus among investors, and of particular importance as investors question how long the Federal Reserve will continue its bond-buying program as the economy recovers. Fed chief Ben Bernanke has said that the Fed will begin pulling back on its stimulus monetary policies when the job market shows sustainable improvement.
At 3 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will publish its monthly report on consumer credit.
U.S. stocks ended a volatile session higher Thursday. All of the main indexes rose by between 0.5% to 0.8%.
European markets followed the U.S. stock futures slightly higher.
Asian markets ended the day with losses. Japan's Nikkei index retreated again, at one stage entering bear market territory by extending losses since its May 23 peak to more than 20%. It recovered slightly later in the session to end 0.2% down for the day.
The major indexes in Hong Kong and mainland China fell by just over 1%.
