North American stocks are likely to open lower Friday as bond yields kept rising overnight.

Worries about higher interest rates in the U.S. and around the world have driven bond yields sharply upward in recent weeks. They have contributed to a three-day slide in stocks.

In Canadian economic news, employment was little changed for a second consecutive month in May, with full-time gains mostly offset by losses in part time. The unemployment rate held steady for the fourth straight month at 6.1%, a 33-year low, Statistics Canada said today.

The Canadian dollar slipped to US93.54¢ shortly after the jobless data release, down 0.48 cent after Thursday’s loss of half a cent.

Meanwhile, Canadian imports declined in April, while there was little change in exports, StatsCan said.

Canadian exports edged down 0.3% to $40.7 billion from a revised $40.8 billion in March. Imports fell 2.2% in April to $34.9 billion, driven by declines in all sectors except energy.

As a result, the trade surplus with the world expanded to $5.8 billion in April from a revised $5.1 billion in March. While the surplus with the United States edged down to $8 billion, the deficit with the rest of the world narrowed to $2.3 billion.

South of the border, the U.S. trade deficit shrank by 6.2% to US$58.50 billion in April as exports rose slightly and purchases of foreign-made consumer goods and cars dropped. Analysts had forecast a data US$63.9 billion deficit.

In earnings news, pharmaceutical manufacturer Patheon reported a quarterly loss of US$22 million, including $16.4 million in after-tax restructuring and refinancing costs. Three-month revenue was US$181 million, down 5% from a year ago.

National Semiconductor reported a smaller-than-forecast 24% profit decline and said it was buying back US$2 billion worth of shares.

In M&A news, CanWest Global Communications has sold its 70% stake in CanWest MediaWorks New Zealand for $296 million to HT Media Ltd., an Australian private equity outfit.

Liquor Stores Income Fund announced it has completed its takeover of Liquor Barn Income Fund. The combined operations have 188 stores in Alberta and British Columbia and a market capitalization of about $470 million.

Crude-oil futures dropped US70¢ to US$66.23 a barrel. Gold prices fell US$5.80 to US$659.40 an ounce.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.5% in Tokyo, and the FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% in London following losses on Wall Street.

Toronto stocks plunged for a second straight session on Thursday, as investors dumped shares amid worries about inflation and rising interest rates.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 237.71 points, 1.7%, at 13,703.88, for a total of 437.81 points over the past two days.

The loss over the past two days has pushed the index down 2.5% so far this month.

All of the 10 TSX main groups ended lower.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 55.43 points, or 1.71%, to 3,193.77.

The Canadian dollar eased Wednesday’s three-decade high, trading down 0.5 cent at US94.02¢.

In New York, stocks tumbled in a broad-based selloff.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 198.94 points, or 1.48%, to end at 13,266.73.

The S&P 500 lost 26.66 points, or 1.76%, to finish at 1,490.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 45.80 points, or 1.77%, to close at 2,541.38.

The three benchmark indices suffered their biggest one-day percentage losses since March 13.