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Futures Slide on Disappointing Payroll Data, dow future down 140
As of 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 117 points to 12,121, S&P 500 futures slipped 13.4 points to 1,299 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 26 points to 2,300.

The state of the economic recovery has been a major theme in recent sessions. A flurry of disappointing economic data released this week has sparked concern that the recovery that seemed robust late last year might be hitting a soft patch.

The monthly non-farm payroll report is considered an important gauge of the health of the labor market and the broader economy. The number of non-farm payrolls increased by 54,000 in May, far shy of analysts' estimates of a gain of 150,000. The unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher to 9.1% from 9% the prior month, higher than the 8.9% Wall Street forecast.

Many economists blame two factors for the sudden downshift in the pace of recovery: high energy prices and disruption to the automotive sector caused by the tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan in March.

Fears of a slowdown have taken a toll on Wall Street, with the blue chips shedding more than 300 points in the last two sessions. Indeed, if the Dow doesn't tack on 193 points on Friday it will be headed to its first five-week losing streak since 2004.

Energy markets traded in a tight, modestly negative range in early trade.

Light, sweet crude fell 63 cents, or 0.62%, to $99.79 a barrel. Wholesale RBOB gasoline slipped by a penny, or 0.27%, to $2.96 a gallon.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/06/03/futures-drift-lower-as-traders-await-payroll-data/