Here comes the Baker Hughes rig count ...

The Baker Hughes rig count is set for release at 1:00 pm ET.

Last week, the number of oil rigs in use in the US fell by 33 to 986, the lowest total since June 2011.

Then number of oil and gas rigs in use combined fell by 43 to 1,267, the lowest since January 2010.

Friday's rig data comes on the heels of the February jobs report, which showed that nonfarm payrolls grew by 295,000 in February as the unemployment rate fell to 5.5%. Jobs in the mining sector, however, which include oil and energy related jobs, fell by 9,000 in February.

And data from staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released on Thursday showed that in February 16,333 jobs were cut in the energy sector.

The decline in oil rigs has been closely watched as the price of oil has tumbled, and at current levels, the decline in US oil rig count is about 39%; in January, Baker Hughes said the number of rigs in use has declined by 40%-60% during past oil downturns.

Here's last week's chart showing the decline since October.

Business Insider, data via Baker Huges