Stock market news live: Futures pare losses after blowout December jobs data - Yahoo Finance

U.S. stocks were on track to decline for the first time in five sessions, giving back some of the gains from earlier in the week.

8:30 a.m. ET: Economy created 225,000 jobs in December

The U.S. labor market went from strength-to-strength in December, closing out 2019 by adding 225,000 jobs — but the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% (still a 50-year low) as more workers entered the labor pool, which drove up the participation rate to 63.4%. The blowout number was far above Wall Street’s consensus, and was presaged by Wednesday’s ADP private payrolls report.

Stock futures remain in the red, but pare some losses on the news, as coronavirus fears continue to weigh.

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7:33 a.m. ET: Stock futures fall ahead of January jobs report

Contracts on the three major indices were lower before the Department of Labor’s January jobs report, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Heading into Friday’s session, the S&P 500 was up 3.7% since the end of last week through Thursday’s close.

The “official”jobs report is expected to show payroll gains totaled 165,000 in January, representing an increase after December’s 145,000 additions. The unemployment rate likely held at a 50-year low of 3.5%. Average hourly wage gains, which disappointed in the December jobs report, are expected to have accelerated slightly to a 3.0% increase year on year.

Meanwhile, investors continued to monitor the spread of the coronavirus. The death toll from the outbreak has so far totaled 636 in mainland China, among more than 31,000 confirmed cases. Carmakers including Toyota have extended shutdowns at their manufacturing centers in China to try and contain the spread of the disease.

Here were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:33 a.m. ET: