US non-farm payroll figures due later in the day had markets on both sides of the Atlantic braced on Friday, with stocks across Europe in the red and futures showing Wall Street lower.
Poor data this time last month had sent global markets into freefall, with a recovery only fully coming towards the end of August.
This was as lower-than-expected figures prompted fears that the Federal Reserve had held high interest rates for too long and threatened the US economy with recession as a result.
Some better data since has appeared to ease such concerns, with expectations now widely for a rate cut by the central bank this month.
Private payroll data most recently on Thursday showed the weakest growth in three years though, while separate figures saw unemployment claims fall, painting a mixed picture.
“There is extra emphasis [...] on today’s employment report” as a result, interactive investor analyst Richard Hunter noted.
“[This] will walk the fine line between whether the fabled soft landing is on track, or whether the Federal Reserve has missed the boat with a potential recession in sight.”
Expectations are for 160,000 jobs to have been added to the US economy in August, with the report due at 1.30pm UK time.