Light Day Puts Focus on Labor Data

The only major data coming out today is the weekly jobless claims report, a survey that hasn’t been too reliable recently due to seasonal adjustment issues owing to earlier lay-offs in the auto sector. This week those issues should be non-existent, and with little other data to look at one day ahead of the official employment figures for July, there could be extra emphasis on those numbers.

The jobless claims report comes on the heels of three labor reports released yesterday, all of which came in worse than expected, causing some economists to put a downside risk to their predictions to tomorrow’s report.

Ninety minutes before the opening bell, equity futures look poised to climb after the profit-taking session yesterday. S&P 500 futures are up 3.5 points to 1004, Dow futures are trading 43 points higher at 9,288, and Nasdaq futures are roughly flat at 1,614. 

Key Releases Today:

8:30 â€