"But a strong number will give the Fed reason to pause, while a weaker report adds to the case that labor growth is still slow."

Stocks fell after the weak report on consumer spending.

While weak economic reports gave the market some support, they were not compelling enough to bring in buyers.

June's already weak report was revised downward, to 78,000 jobs from 112,000.

Economists said another weak report would be particularly telling, because the survey period for June is five weeks rather than the usual four.

"A weaker than expected June employment report might suggest that we could get a whole month of weak economic numbers," he said.

In addition, they said most market participants were looking beyond current weak economic reports to a recovery beginning sometime this spring.

Wall Street is already expecting a weak report, with just 85,000 jobs created.

A weak report on employment, suggesting continued economic weakness, would help next week's sales.

The weak report for June extended through all categories.