Tomorrow's Headliners: Jobs Report

A hectic week that began with General Motors' (GMGMQ Quote) bankruptcy filing will end Friday after investors get the latest read on the labor market, which is expected to show a slight improvement from April.

According to the latest tally, economists expect the nonfarm payrolls report to show the U.S. economy shed about 520,000 jobs last month, a small improvement after a 539,000 slide in April. Since the recession began in December 2007, 5.7 million jobs have been lost, according to government figures from April. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate should rise to 9.2% from 8.9% in April.

If the number of jobs lost exceeds forecasts, it won't come as complete shock considering Chrysler filed for bankruptcy at the very end of April and cut 27,000 jobs. As a result, jobless claims jumped in May.

After the ADP employment report Wednesday showed that 532,000 jobs were shed by the U.S. private sector last month, the government's report is expected to fall in line with expectations. However, ADP's April figures were revised lower by 54,000 to a decline of 545,000 jobs, leading some market observers to wonder how significant any downward revision will be to the Labor Department's own numbers.

Later in the day, at 3 p.m. EDT, the Federal Reserve will release consumer credit data for April.

In other economic news, Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will moderate a panel that will also feature San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. The discussion is part of a banking conference on financial markets and monetary policy in Washington, D.C.