On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on weekly jobless claims. The number of people who filed for first time benefits is expected to be 580,000, according to a consensus estimate from Briefing.com, a slight decrease from the 584,000 who filed in the week prior. Furthermore, sales figures for July from the nation's retailers are due throughout the morning.

Two reports on Wednesday showed that the labor market continues to face challenges and that recovery on the employment front will be slow.

In addition, outplacement firm Challenger said companies' planned job cuts rose 31% in July, indicating problems in the employment sector are far from over.

"Just because we are not seeing the worst of the worst in terms of the job market doesn't mean that we are actually adding a lot of jobs," said Lundeberg.

The reports come ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, which will be released Friday. That report is expected to show that the economy shed 328,000 jobs in July, less than the 467,000 reported for June, according to a consensus estimate of economists compiled by Briefing.com. The unemployment rate is predicted to rise to 9.6% from 9.5%.

Thursday: The weekly jobless claims report is due in the morning from the Labor Department.

Additionally, July sales figures from the nation's retailers are due throughout the morning.

Friday: The July jobs report from the Department of Labor is due to be released shortly before the start of trading. Employers are expected to have cut 333,000 jobs from their payrolls after cutting 467,000 jobs in the previous month.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 9.6% from 9.5%.

In the afternoon, a report on consumer credit is due, although its not usually a market mover.