Economists have estimated that the government will report Friday that employers added 160,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate slipped back to 4.2%. Since hitting a half-century low of 3.4% in April of last year, the jobless rate has risen nearly a full percentage point.

US stock index futures were steady in European trade on Friday, as investors held on to expectations of lower interest rates ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that could potentially herald a larger easing cycle.