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U.S. stocks were poised to open higher Friday, getting a lift from the better-than-expected government release on the monthly jobs report.
At 8:45 a.m. ET, Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq 100 and Standard & Poor's 500 futures were up.
Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance and offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins.
Futures appeared to get a lift from the wave of optimism that swept markets in the previous session. Wall Street staged a late-session rally Thursday after three straight days of losses.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners, said that Friday's volume will be light ahead of the Labor Day weekend - and that the monthly employment report will be the prime market mover.
Economy: The Labor Department reported that the economy shed 216,000 jobs in the month of August, which was less than expected.
0:00 /2:16Job cuts expected to slow
Employers were expected to have cut 230,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The payroll figure for July was revised to a decline of 276,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.7% in August, this highest rate since 1983. This was higher than the 9.5% rate expected by Briefing.com consensus. It was also an increase from 9.4% in July.
World markets: Stocks around the world were mostly upbeat ahead of the jobs report. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added nearly 3%, although Japan's Nikkei posted modest losses. Major European markets were higher in midday trading.
Money and oil: The dollar slipped versus the euro and the British pound but edged up against the yen.
The price of oil rose 51 cents a barrel to $68.47.
