US initial jobless claims surged to 3283k in the week ending March 21, up from prior wee’s 282k. That’s the highest level on record. Four-week moving average of initial claims jumped 766k to 998k. Continuing claims rose 101k to 1.803m in the week ending March 14. Four week moving average of continuing claims rose 27.5k to 1.731m.
Also from US, goods trade deficit narrowed to USD -59.9B in February versus expectation of USD -64.5B. Whole sale inventories dropped -0.5% versus expectation of 0.0%. Q4 GDP was finalized at 2.1% annualized while price index was finalized at 1.3%.
