Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were lower early on Friday on improving US crop weather and uncertainty about the global economy, traders said. Grain traders were eyeing US equity markets, which seesawed in early moves as a better-than-expected payrolls report did little to alleviate fears of a double-dip recession. As of 9:37 am CDT (1437 GMT), CBOT December corn was down 5-1/2 cents at $6.96 per bushel.