1 Friday's bleak March nonfarm payrolls data became the latest economic data point that the stock market shrugged off, leading some analysts to say the economic damage could not possibly get much worse.

2 These points to a 11th consecutive decline in nonfarm payrolls ahead, and reflected the difficulty in finding a new job.

3 Investors are eagerly awaiting data on U.S. nonfarm payrolls for December, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, for more clues on the state of the American labor market.

4 Copper market cautiously higher in front of U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures on Friday - Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with Future Path Trading in Chicago.

5 Nonfarm payrolls fell 100,000 after declining 131,000 in July, according to a Reuters survey.

6 He said he expects overall nonfarm payrolls to rise by 225,000, up from his previous forecast of 200,000.

7 Nonfarm payrolls likely increased 85,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey, after rising only 18,000 in June. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2 percent.

8 Analysts say that if U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due Friday shows the economy added jobs in March, it may boost the dollar further and bolster expectations for Fed rate hikes this year.

9 "There's clearly a risk appetite bias, but ... I think ahead of tomorrow's (nonfarm payrolls) numbers, it's unlikely to become a strong trend," he added.

10 The government's nonfarm payrolls report on Friday was the latest of the week's data to suggest the economy may not be headed for another severe downturn,[] as many investors have feared.

11 Given data on Monday that showed the U.S. manufacturing sector barely grew in July, the focus on this Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data should intensify after two months of disappointing numbers.

12 U.S. economic data this week will culminate with Friday's closely-watched nonfarm payrolls report.

13 Weekly initial jobless claims data will get more attention than usual after Thursday's nonfarm payrolls fell much more than expected.

14 There is a lot of hesitancy ahead of tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report. Every indication we have had so far points to a slightly softer labor market in the U.S.

15 The muted moves came ahead of U.S. data on nonfarm payrolls for November. Analysts expect the pace of jobs growth to improve, but remain too slow to make a dent in unemployment levels.

16 On Friday, U.S. stocks overcame early losses after the nonfarm payrolls report to end higher as investors bet that the larger trend was for labor market improvement.

17 Investors also will watch out for economic data and could be hit with surprises, such as Friday's weaker-than-expected Labor Department report on December nonfarm payrolls.

18 The December employment data is due on January 7, and a preliminary Reuters survey shows economists expect nonfarm payrolls increased 126,000.

19 Economists at Goldman Sachs revised their estimate of May nonfarm payrolls to 100,000 from 150,000 after the ADP report.

20 For the first time in nearly a year the economy failed to create new jobs on a net basis according to the Labor Department's monthly nonfarm payrolls survey on Friday.