Sales at U.S. retailers and restaurants rose slightly in September as resilient consumers moderated their spending after splurging over the summer.

From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.

Pay and benefits for America’s workers grew more slowly in the April-June quarter than in the first three months of the year, a trend that could keep price pressures in check and encourage the inflation-fighters at the Federal Reserve.

Asian stock markets are mixed as investors await U.S. jobs numbers some appear to hope will be weak enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to postpone winding down economic stimulus.

Asian stocks are mixed as traders await more guidance on the U.S. economic recovery.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)WASHINGTON – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 770,000, a sign that layoffs remain high even as much of the U.S. economy is steadily recovering from the coronavirus recession. Thursday's report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims climbed from 725,000 the week before. A total of 4.1 million people are continuing to collect traditional state unemployment benefits, down 18,000 from the previous week. No single factor fully explains the still-high level of weekly applications for state unemployment aid. In addition, the expansion of supplemental federal unemployment benefits has likely encouraged more jobless Americans to apply for aid.

The Federal Reserve says theres evidence that hiring has picked up in recent weeks, though the job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic. Jobless claims declined by 111,000 from the previous week to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for unemployment benefits had never topped 700,000. The latest figures coincide with a weakened job market that has made scant progress in the past three months. AdAll told, 19 million people were receiving unemployment aid as of Feb. 6, up from 18.3 million the previous week.

The Federal Reserve says theres evidence that hiring has picked up in recent weeks, though the job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve says there's evidence that hiring has picked up in recent weeks, though the job market remains badly damaged by the pandemic. In its semi-annual monetary policy report released Friday, the Fed said it has been watching job data compiled by payroll processor ADP. AdThe report will form the basis for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony next week before committees in the House and Senate. Hiring has stalled in the past three months, with job gains averaging just 90,000 a month from November through January.

Shares rose in Asia on Thursday after Wall Street rallied on expectations of more stimulus for the economy, despite chaotic scenes in Washington as Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. India's Sensex rose 0.6% and shares in most other markets were higher. Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 3,748.14. Financial stocks rose 4.4% for the biggest gain among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500. Several Big Tech stocks fell, including a 3.4% drop for Apple and a 2.8% decline for Facebook.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, payroll processor ADP reports on how many jobs its survey estimates U.S. companies added in October. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)BALTIMORE, MD U.S. businesses added a mere 125,000 jobs in October, a slowdown in hiring driven in part by job cuts in manufacturing and construction. Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that hiring in September was also revised down sharply to 93,000 jobs from the initial report of 135,000 jobs. "The slowdown in job growth is really about what's happening at smaller companies," said Zandi, as companies with fewer than 20 workers shed 12,000 jobs last month. One key indicator in Friday's jobs report will be the change in average hourly wages.