by Calculated Risk on 5/03/2012 09:00:00 PM

The focus Friday will be on the April employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

• The employment report will be released at 8:30 AM ET. The consensus is for an increase of 165,000 non-farm payroll jobs in April, up from the 120,000 jobs added in March.

The consensus is for the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 8.2%.

Earlier today I posted a preview of the report.

From Patti Domm at CNBC: Wall Street Has Lowered the Bar for April's Jobs Report

Deutsche Bank chief U.S. economist Joseph LaVorgna ... expects to see 175,000 nonfarm payrolls were added in April.

Goldman Sachs economists expect to see only 125,000 nonfarm payrolls added in April, and they also see weather as a factor. But Goldman Economist Andrew Tilton agrees that if there’s a surprise, it may be in retail. In the employment reports in February and March, retail showed total layoffs of about 80,000 workers in the general apparel category. About 50,000 of those were in March — a record level — according to Tilton.

• European elections: On Sunday, France and Greece will hold elections. In France, François Hollande is expected to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the French Republic. Hollande is expected to push for more of a growth agenda, as opposed to austerity only.

No party will win a majority in Greece, and many of the minor parties are expected to get a boost from the anti-auserity vote. However New Democracy will probably receive the most votes, and Pasok will probably finish second. There are some weird rules in Greece - see Greek elections from the Financial Times Alphaville - but it sounds like New Democracy and Pasok will be able to form a government that supports the terms of the recent bailout - although I expect New Democracy will push for some sort of growth agenda.