Today’s updates on US economic data is a bit of a yawn, but that’s okay because the numbers are still trending positive, albeit moderately so. The initial June estimate of the manufacturing purchasing managers index from Markit Economics ticked down to 52.2 from May’s 52.3, but that’s still well above the neutral 50 mark and so this benchmark tells us that the sector is still growing at a decent if unspectacular pace. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims last week jumped by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 354,000, but the worst you can about this series at this point is that it’s treading water. Then again, the year-over-year trend for new unemployment filings remains continues to fall at a healthy rate and so today’s numbers still point to modest healing for the labor market.