Today's Markets

As of 8:50 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 66 points to 12,635, S& P 500 futures climbed 10.3 points to 1,346 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 16.5 points to 2,392. 

The private sector tacked on 157,000 jobs last month, according to the ADP Employment Report.   Wall Street had been looking for a much smaller increase of 68,000 jobs.   Small businesses led the increase, adding 88,000 jobs, while small and medium sized businesses combined attributed 69,000 jobs.   

First time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 418,000 from a revised 432,000 the prior week.   Economists forecast claims to have fallen to 420,000 for the week.  

Both reports lead up to the closely-followed release of the monthly employment situation from the Labor Department on Friday.   Economists predict the unemployment rate will remain steady at 9.1% as the economy adds 94,000 jobs. 

The jobs market was hit hard during the economic downturn, with the unemployment rate peaking at 10.1% in October of 2009.   The pace of recovery has been slow, and recent shocks caused by high energy prices and layoffs caused by manufacturing slowdowns related to the earthquake that slammed Japan have put additional pressure on the labor market, many analysts say