A report on the U.S. jobs situation in June is to be released Friday, as major banks and corporations have forecast an upswing in job creation after the previous month's dismal numbers.

Financial giant Morgan Stanley on Thursday increased its non-farm payroll estimate for the government unemployment report to 110,000 from 90,000, up from the previous month's flimsy creation of 69,000 jobs.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) on Thursday predicted the sluggish economy would create 176,000 jobs. The ADP figures are viewed as a preview of what is in store for the official government report, although they often show different results.

In another bit of good news, the number of those filing for unemployment benefits dropped by 14,000 last week to a six-week low of 374,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

If those figures foreshadow Friday's U.S Labor Department jobs report, it could be welcome news to an economy still slogging in recovery from the worst downturn in decades.

But other figures bode ill for the U.S. economy.

Retail sales, a barometer of the U.S. spending habits and faith in an economy driven by consumer spending, were weak on Thursday as consumers expressed caution about parting with their cash last month.

Major chain stores saw a paltry 0.1 percent boost in sales for the month of June compared to the same month last year. The numbers fell below analysts' expectations of 0.5 percent, according to a Thomson Reuters' survey of 20 economists.

"Volatility was the catch word," said Michael Niemira, chief economist for the International Council of Shopping Centers. "Weather was one factor that was cited as a negative, but some retailers pointed to broader economic uncertainty, too."

The jobless rate rose in May to 8.2 percent from the previous month's 8.1 percent, spurring much chatter on the direction of the economy, with some economists forecasting a downward trend while others said it was premature to make such a judgement.

In an unusual shift in language, the White House released a statement after last month's report saying that "problems in the job market were long in the making and will not be solved overnight."

The statement marked a departure from the administration's usual claims that monthly jobs reports show a slow road toward recovery.