Wall Street futures are down this morning following a surprisingly negative jobs report in the U.S., though investors in Canada are waking up to more positive jobs news.

Statistics Canada is reporting that employment increased by an estimated 53,000, in December. Most of the new jobs are full-time. Job gains over the past four months total 219,000 (+1.4%), four times the increase of 52,000 (+0.3%) observed during the first eight months of the year. Almost all of the job gains in 2003 were in full-time work. In December, the unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%.

In the U.S., the Labor Department is reporting good and bad news. The good news is that the unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in 14 months. The unemployment rate fell by two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.7%, the lowest level since October 2002.

The bad news is that non-farm business payrolls grew by only 1,000. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 5.9% and for payrolls to grow by 150,000. This shock has economists speculating that the U.S. Federal Reserve may even consider a rate cut when it meets again. It may also undermine market confidence.

Meanwhile, overseas stocks have done well, despite this morning’s U.S. job news. At midday, London’s FTSE100 Share Index is down 0.2%, to 4,484.90, but in Paris the CAC40 Index has risen 0.3% to 3,601.95 and Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax Index is up 0.2%, to 4,053.28

Overnight, Tokyo stocks rose to an 11-week high. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 127.40 points, or 1.18%, to 10,965.05 points — its highest close since Oct. 21, when it finished at 11,031.52. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 182.21 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 13,385.8 — its highest close since June 13, 2001.

On Thursday, the S&P/TSX composite index slipped 2.11 points to 8,386.42. The TSX Venture Exchange rose 11.36 points to 1,786.40. The Dow industrial average gained 63.41 points to 10,5932.44. The Nasdaq composite index rose 22.57 points to 2,100.25.