Weekly jobless claims totaled 219,000 (Briefing.com consensus 224,000) and continuing claims came in at 1.847 million.
The trade deficit narrowed to $122.7 billion in February (Briefing.com consensus -$121.0 billion) from $130.7 billion.
The initial response in equities was muted. The S&P 500 futures are down 190 points and are trading 3.4% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 775 points and are trading 3.9% below fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 1,216 points and are trading 2.9% below fair value.