With weak earnings in tow, focus turns to jobs data

Coming off a barrage of flimsy company earnings reports that included Apple's first revenue drop in 13 years, investors will turn to April jobs data for signs of budding resilience or further weakening in the second quarter. U.S. nonfarm payrolls, unemployment and wages data are due Friday May 6, when the economy is expected to have added 200,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate unchanged at 5 percent and a wage increase of 0.3 percent, according to Reuters data. Unlike in recent months, where weak jobs numbers were counted on to stave off another Federal Reserve interest rate hike, investors are now itching for better-than-expected employment data to indicate a stronger next earnings season, analysts said.

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With weak earnings in tow, focus turns to jobs data