LIVE MARKETS-Wall St futures jump on slowing U.S. wage data

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WALL ST FUTURES JUMP ON SLOWING U.S. WAGE DATA (0915 ET/ 1315 GMT)

Stock index futures jumped on Friday as data showed the U.S. labor market remained strong in December but the decline in average hourly earnings pointed to less pressure on inflation and hope the Federal Reserve can ease its interest rate hikes.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 223,000 last month, the Labor Department said, but average hourly earnings rose 0.3% after a 0.4% increase the prior month. That lowered the year-on-year increase in wages to 4.6% from 4.8% in November.

While wage growth is running above the Fed's inflation target of 2%, it's less hot than before. But wages are keeping up with rising consumer prices, pointing to difficulty for the economy and how the Fed reacts to the data.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 EScv1 rose 0.88%.

(Herbert Lash)

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