WASHINGTON (AP) - The Labor Department says payrolls dropped by 62,000 and the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, the price of oil is approaching $146 a barrel for the first time.

Stocks headed for a mixed open Thursday ahead of the unemployment report which could offer insights into how well the economy is likely to fare in the coming months.

An interest rate decision from the European Central Bank will also cap a holiday-shortened week for Wall Street.

The data come on an abbreviated day for traders. The stock market closes three hours early, at 1 p.m. EDT, on ahead of the July 4th holiday on Friday.

Investors are nervous about the strength of the job market in part because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Consumers who are out of work or are nervous about losing their job are likely to trim their spending.

In a figure released yesterday, orders to U.S. factories turned in the slowest performance in three months in May as a surge in demand for commercial aircraft was not enough to offset weakness in autos, heavy machinery and steel.

Factory orders rose by 0.6 percent in May, less than half the gains turned in during April and March, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. It was the poorest showing since factory orders had fallen by 0.4 percent in February.