Initial Claims, ISM A Backdrop For Tomorrow's Big Employment Report

Although generally ignored this morning in favor of a let’s wait and see what the BLS gives us tomorrow on the labor market, the market saw some economic indicators today worth looking at.

First, the Initial Claims came in up +16K (5%) from the prior week to 326K, while Continuing Claims jumped 22K to 2.850 million.

The increases were no surprise given the large drops experienced last week (it’s an ongoing problem with the seasonal adjustment process).

Initial claims vs S&P 500 differentials

Overall, the increases today and the slight decline in the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) over the past week were not enough to push the Initial Claims/S&P 500 differential from its all-time high, ending March at 1540, down 4 from the prior week...