Jobless claims weren’t so great, knocking U.S. stock futures down a bit. Economists thought we’d get a rise of 3,000 up to 453,000. Instead we got a jump of 15,000 up to 465,000. Some quick takes from market watchers:

Ward McCarthy, Jefferies — Today’s claims level is above market expectations, but within the range of forecasts. Claims have been unusually difficult to forecast in recent weeks as the residual effects of inappropriate seasonal adjustments and calendar distortions due to the Labor Day holiday weekend have created distortions. Going forward in the near-term, claims should resume their recent downtrend, though week-to-week reversals will be common.

Peter Boockvar, Miller Tabak — Just as the S&P’s couldn’t sustain any momentum after breaking above the upper end of the trading range of 1130ish, the economic data is unable to generate any positive momentum to the upside. Every breakout has been false and blah remains the unfortunate theme.

David Ader, CRT Capital – Not a huge increase but after several weeks of falling is in the ‘wrong’ direction. We note too that the lower [continuing] claims merely means people falling off the ranks vs. getting jobs (our take).