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By Bloomberg

U.S. stock futures fell as data showed employers in March added the fewest workers since December 2013.

S&P 500 futures expiring in June lost 0.3 percent to 2,054 at 8:33 a.m. in New York. While exchanges are closed for the Good Friday holiday, futures contracts will continue to trade for 45 minutes after the data, giving investors a window to react.

The 126,000 increase in payrolls was weaker than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey and followed a 264,000 gain a month earlier that was smaller than initially reported, the Labor Department in Washington said. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 245,000 advance.

The jobless rate held at 5.5 percent, while average hourly earnings rose 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

Investors are parsing the data for clues on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase since 2006. The employment sector has been the brightest spot in the economic recovery. Other economic reports in early 2015 have been the most disappointing in years, with retail sales slumping in January and February, residential construction weakening and manufacturing cooling.

Chair Janet Yellen said March 27 that she expects to raise rates this year, and that subsequent increases will be gradual.

As of Wednesday’s close, Federal funds futures implied liftoff from zero in the final week of November, according to an index maintained by analysts at Morgan Stanley. That’s been pushed back from September, before the policy-setting March meeting.

The S&P 500 increased 0.3 percent for the holiday shortened week, with the benchmark gauge trading around a 15-point range framed by its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. The gauge fluctuated between gains and losses amid concern that the six- year bull market may stall, hurting corporate earnings.

Alcoa Inc. next week unofficially kicks off an earnings season that analysts forecast will show the first profit decline since 2009. Profits for S&P 500 companies are expected to decline 5.8 percent in the first quarter as results were buffeted by tumbling oil prices and a stronger dollar.

Investors may face the longest stretch of declines since the financial crisis, with slumps of 4.2 percent and 1 percent over the second and third quarters, according to analyst estimates.