Coming Up: December Jobs And Unemployment Report

The most-anticipated story of the morning seems to be the December jobs and unemployment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is due for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.

We'll post on the news as soon as possible after it's available.

Last month, BLS said the unemployment rate had declined to 8.6 percent in November from 9 percent the month before. And it said private employers had added 140,000 jobs to their payrolls.

Bloomberg News says economists expect job growth was similar or a bit better in December, but that the unemployment rate might have edged up as more people reentered the labor force and started to look for work — but hadn't found any yet.