Stock futures surged after the government said the nation's jobless rate dropped to 10 percent in November and far fewer jobs were lost than had been expected.
The Labor Department said the economy shed 11,000 jobs last month, an improvement from October's revised total of 111,000. That's also much better than the 130,000 job losses that Wall Street economists expected.
The unemployment rate fell to 10 percent from 10.2 percent in October, where economists expected it to remain at a 26-year high.
Two economic reports from the Labor Department on Thursday gave some economists optimism that employers will ramp up hiring in the New Year, with the economy adding jobs in the first quarter.
But many analysts still expect the jobless rate to keep climbing into next year.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 113, or 1.1 percent, to 10,465. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 13.50, or 1.2 percent, to 1,111.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 21, or 1.2 percent, to 1,801.25.
Later this morning, the government reports on October factory orders. The Commerce Department is likely to say factory orders remained flat in October after rising 0.9 percent in September, as demand increased for durable goods, and nondurable goods such as chemicals and energy products.
