Initial jobless claims today were higher than expected, among other mixed economic data. The big economic news of the day is the Trump administration dropping its insistence with Congress on a payroll tax cut to get money into the hands of Americans during the 'second wave' as the election approaches.

He wants to get money into people’s pockets now because we need to reopen the economy,” Mr. Mnuchin said, referring to the president. “One of the issues I think you know about the payroll tax cut is people get that money over time. So, the president’s preference is to make sure that we send out direct payments quickly," reported The Wall Street Journal.

The Republican coronavirus relief plan will extend enhanced unemployment insurance “based on approximately 70% wage replacement,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, reported CNBC.

Markes were soft on the news.

Continuing Jobless Claims (Jul 10) printed at 16.197M vs 17.067M consensus estimate.

Initial Jobless Claims (Jul 17) printed at 1416k vs 1300k estimate.

Initial Jobless Claims 4-week average (Jul 17) printed at 1360.25k.

EIA Natural Gas Storage Change (Jul 17) printed at 37B vs 36B estimate.

Kansas Fed Manufacturing Activity (Jul) printed at 7.

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