US initial jobless claims dropped -9k to 221k in the week ending March 16, better than expectation of 226k. Four-week moving average of initial claims rose 1k to 225k. Continuing claims dropped -17k to 1.75M in the week ending March 9. Fours week moving average of continuing claims rose 6k to 1.773M.
Philadelphia Manufacturing Business Outlook jumped to 13.7 in March, up from -4.1 and beat expectation of 5. Prior month’s figure was the first negative reading in almost three news. For this month, new orders rose modestly from -2.4 to 1.9. Shipments index jumped 25 pts to 20.0.
