S&P 500 futures are little changed as traders gear up for big August jobs report: Live updates

S&P 500 futures hovered near the flatline Thursday night as investors look to Friday's key jobs report for further clues about the state of the U.S. economy.

Futures tied to the broad market index were little changed. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures inched higher by 45 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid about 0.3%.

In after-hours trading, Broadcom slipped nearly 7% after forecasting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue just shy of analysts' estimates.

Those moves come after the S&P 500 and 30-stock Dow closed lower on Thursday. Investors' fears over the economy returned after August private payrolls grew by 99,000 — the smallest gain since 2021 and sharply below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 140,000 — in the latest sign that the labor market is weakening.

All eyes are now on Friday's August nonfarm payrolls report, which is expected to inform the Federal Reserve's approach toward interest rates. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are calling for nonfarm payrolls growth of 161,000 and a slight decline in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.

Despite concerns stemming from the recent labor data, markets remain optimistic that the Fed will begin lowering interest rates by at least a quarter-percentage point at the conclusion of the September policy meeting.

The three major U.S. indexes are down as the shortened trading week comes to a close. The broad market index and Nasdaq are so far lower by 2.6% and 3.3%, respectively. The 30-stock Dow is down 1.9% this week.

"September is living up to its reputation as a historically bad month for stocks. … The sudden change in momentum and jump in volatility has left many investors questioning the sustainability of the recovery from the August lows and if the rebound was simply a relief