US stock futures soar on fewer job losses

US stock futures soar on fewer job losses
Wall Street heads to higher open as report says employers cut fewer-than-expected jobs in May

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stock futures surged Friday as investors cheered a government report that said employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month.

The Labor Department said 345,000 jobs were lost in May, significantly less than the half-million job losses economists had been expecting and the fewest job losses since September.

However, the unemployment rate surged to a slightly higher-than-expected 9.4 percent from 8.9 percent in April, proving that companies are still reluctant to hire back laid off workers.
But investors looked beyond the higher unemployment rate and instead took the slower pace of layoffs for a fourth month in a row as a sign that unemployment is stabilizing.

Unemployment has been one of the most closely watched gauges of the economy's health throughout the recession. Rising job losses affect vast areas of the economy, including consumer spending, retail sales and the housing market.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 113, or 1.3 percent, to 8,843, after being up about 33 points prior to the report. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures jumped 13.70, or 1.5 percent, to 954.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 14.25, or 1.0 percent, to 1,507.25.