US pre-open: Stock futures edge forward amid mixed jobs data

US stocks index futures pointed to a slightly higher opening on Friday amid mixed jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open approximately four points higher than Thursday’s close of 17,907.8, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are expected to begin the final session of the week one point and seven points higher, respectively.

The US economy added 252,000 jobs in December, higher than the analysts’ estimate of 240,000, as the unemployment rate fell from 5.8% to 5.6%, but hourly wages fell as more Americans fell into unemployment.

“The US labour market continued to boom at the end of last year, adding further fuel to expectations that the Fed will be the first major central bank to start tightening policy in 2015,” said Markit chief analyst Chris Williamson.

“However, the dataflow over the next two months will be crucial in determining whether the FOMC will aim for mid-2015 or, as survey data indicate, rate rises could be delayed until later in the year if the economy shows signs of slowing.”

November’s gain was revised up from 321,000 to 353,000, with the increase driven by a 240,000 rise in private sector employment.

“The fly in the ointment was wage growth, a downturn in which suggests that the recent improvements seen in the economy are still not feeding through to employees,” said Williamson.

“Annual pay growth fell from 1.9% to 1.7%, its lowest since October 2012.”

In corporate news, Macy’s slipped in premarket trading after saying late on Thursday that it aimed to save $140m a year by restructuring its marketing and merchandising operations.

Bed Bath & Beyond fell ahead of the bell, after reporting revenue of $2.94bn, missing analyst estimates of $2.97bn, while Container Store Group rose in premarket trading after reporting it swung to third quarter earnings of $6.25m from a loss of $25m.

Gap dropped over 1% despite announcing its comparable sales climbed 3% over the Christmas shopping season, while the net sales rose 4%.