Jobless Claims came in at 3.283m vs forecasts that were all over the board.  Some large investment bank research desks were calling for as many as 5 million claims.  3m was actually middle of the range and not at all a high guess considering 1 million claims in California alone.  Economists expect the initial jobless toll is higher, but that not everyone has filed yet or been able to file.  Either way, claims and "ongoing claims" just became the most important economic indicator in the US again.  The claims count is a meaningless number during prolonged economic stability/growth, but it was always the first place we planned to look when the next recession began taking shape.  

Bonds responded with modest weakness and stocks ticked up, likely because this further solidifies the disaster relief bill's passage in the house.