What to watch today: Stock futures rose ahead of jobs report, after the Dow’s record close

What to watch today: Stock futures rose ahead of jobs report, after the Dow’s record close

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U.S. stock futures rose Friday ahead of the before-the-bell release of the government's monthly employment report, which is expected to show a gain of 1 million nonfarm jobs in April. Signs of a recovering labor market in Thursday's Covid pandemic-era-low jobless claims pushed the Dowup nearly 1% to another record close. (CNBC)A similar gain in the S&P 500 carried that index to within 10 points of last month's record close. The Nasdaq rose 0.4%, breaking a four-session losing streak, but still more than 3.5% away from April's record close. Ahead of Friday's open on Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down over 2.3% for the week. The Dow and S&P 500 were up nearly 2% and almost 0.5%, respectively, for the week. (CNBC)The expected growth of 1 million jobs last month comes after 916,000 nonfarm payroll additions in March. The Labor Department is set to issue those April numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET. In a recovering economy on the back of increasing Covid vaccinations, more and more businesses are reopening and looking to hire. The nation's unemployment rate is seen dipping to 5.8% in April. (CNBC)The April employment report is being widely watched by investors because of the