US stock indexes pared slight losses at the opening bell to finish largely flat in cautious trading.
The Dow Jones dropped 6 points at 19,884. the Nasdaq also lost 6 points at 5,636, while the S&P 500 rose 1 point to to 2,280.
Non-farm payroll data is expected to show that US employers added 170,000 jobs in January.
The unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 4.7%.
Among individual stocks, Facebook fell 1.8% with profit figures overshadowed by a court ruling against its Oculus division.
Among other large companies reporting earnings, shares in US oil producer ConocoPhillips finished slightly higher after it reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.
Ralph Lauren dropped 12.3% after the company said chief executive Stefan Larson would leave following differences with the company's founder and chairman.
And digital imaging company Shutterfly fell 15.6% after reporting a 30.6% tumble in quarterly profits.
Wall Street finished little changed as investors looked ahead to key US jobs data on Friday.