DraftKings, Jobs Report, Unemployment Rate: 3 Things to Watch

By Liz Moyer

AiVIF -- Stocks paused on Thursday ahead of the July jobs report, due out early Friday morning.

Earlier in the day, the Bank of England raised its own interest rates by a half-point, which it hasn't done for 27 years. The jobs report on Friday in the U.S. is expected to show slower growth than in June, but an unemployment rate that has remained steady since the April report, at 3.6%. Strong employment trends are encouraging signs for central bankers, and something the Federal Reserve is closely watching as it moves into its next meeting in September.

Analysts in recent days have been weighing the odds that the Fed will start to ease off the aggressive 0.75-point hikes it has made in June and July, though high-profile officials from the Fed have been making comments in recent days that appeared to try and throw cold water on that notion.

Corporate earnings continue to pour out, and the next big group investors are anticipating are retailers, especially for what they say about consumer spending heading into the back-to-school shopping season, and ultimately the holiday season in a few months.

Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:

1. DraftKings earnings

DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) is expected to report a per-share loss of 76 cents on revenue of $435 million. Massachusetts lawmakers recently approved sports betting in that state, making it just the latest state to expand the business.

2. Jobs report for July

The much-anticipated jobs report for July will be released at 8:30 AM ET. Analysts expect nonfarm payrolls to gain 250,000, which would be down from 372,000 in June.

3. Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate comes out at the same time, and analysts expect it to come in again at 3.6%, which is a four-month streak.