The final statistic released at 8:30 AM will be the weekly US Initial Claims data.   Last week, the initial claims surged above the 400,000 mark for the first time since September of 2005.  They rose to 407,000 from 369,000 the week before.  The 4 week moving average also rose strongly to 374,500 from 358,000 the week before.

Continuing Claims also reached a new multi year high.  They came in at 2,937,000, the highest level since July of 2004. 

This week, the expectations are for the initial Claims to come back down to 385,000 and the continuing claims to ease to 2,935,000.  A higher number for each would start to confirm continued deterioration in the labor market.