Jobless claims soared in the latest week, bursting through the 500,000 level, to 516,000. Continuing claims reached 3.897 mln, confirming what we already knew about the labor market. It stinks and it is going to get worse.
The US trade gap narrowed to $56.5 bln, slightly better than the $57.0 bln consensus.
EUR/USD is virtually unchanged in the wake of the data, at 1.2525.
