North American stock markets look set to open lower Friday, ahead of th start of a holiday weekend in Canada, after a government report showed that U.S. employment growth slowed last month.

The U.S. Labor Department reported today that U.S. employers added just 92,000 jobs in July, and the jobless rate ticked up to 4.6% as job losses in manufacturing, construction and government offset healthy gains in many services industries.

Economists had expected payroll growth of 133,000 in the July jobs report, and the jobless rate to remain at 4.5%.

Here at home, construction intentions maintained their sizzling pace this spring, as the value of building permits issued followed a record-breaking month in May with another strong showing in June, Statistics Canada reported today. Municipalities issued $6.9 billion worth of building permits, down only 0.4% from May.

The Canadian dollar opened at US94.62¢, down 0.31 of a cent.

In today’s earnings news, Tim Hortons said its second-quarter profit fell 11.9% to $67.2 million from a year-ago $76.3 million as higher taxes bit into the bottom line.

P&G said net income rose 19% in its fiscal fourth quarter as profit-margin gains outpaced revenue growth.

Toyota Motor posted a 32% rise in net profit to reach a record high in the fiscal first quarter, helped by a weak yen and better product mix.

Gold futures rose 40¢ to US$677 an ounce. Crude-oil futures rose 46¢ to US$77.32 a barrel.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 ended virtually unchanged in Tokyo, while China’s shares rose to a new record high. The FTSE 100 weakened 0.2% in London.

The Toronto stock market rebounded on Thursday, gaining more than 150 points on bargain hunting. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 158.88 points, or 1.2%, at 13,813.62.

Nine of the 10 main TSX main sectors were higher, led by energy, financials and materials.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 14.70 points, or 0.48%, to finish at 3,104.82.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose a late-day rally as enthusiasm about strong earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 100.96 points, or 0.76%, to end at 13,463.33. The S&P 500 rose 6.39 points, or 0.44%, to 1,472.20. The Nasdaq composite index gained 22.82 points, or 0.89%, to 2,575.98.