Jobless claims, tech earnings, UK election

Here are the most important things to know about Thursday before you hit the door.

We’ll get a read on the health of the labor market on Thursday when the Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Economist are estimating 212,000 Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, according to Dow Jones, up from the previous week’s 203,000 claims.

Last week, a blowout payrolls report showed the stellar performance of the job market in November. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 266,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to Labor Department.

Technology companies Oracle, Adobe and Broadcom all report earnings after the bell on Thursday.

Morgan Stanley is expecting software company Oracle to report earnings per share of 81 cents, compared to the 72 cents per share it reported in the same quarter last year. Jefferies is expecting Adobe to report earnings of $2.25 per share, compared to the $1.83 earned in the same quarter of 2018. And Bank of America is expecting semiconductor company Broadcom to report earnings of $5.16 per share, less than the $5.85 per share earned last year in the same quarter.

Bank of America expects strength for Broadcom from the upcoming 5G cycle, especially with Apple, but weakness from recent enterprise networking and storage trends. The firm also expects Broadcom to increase its dividend.

Shares of Adobe have climbed nearly 9% and shares of Broadcom have gained 7% in the last three months. Shares of Oracle are flat in the same time period.

The U.K.will have its third general election in five years on Thursday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to achieve a parliamentary majority to deliver his Brexit plan. Johnson called the election, which wasn’t supposed to happen until 2020, because Britain’s parliament has been at a standstill with the Conservative party lacking a majority in the House of Commons.

A respected voter poll on Wednesday raised the prospect of a hung Parliament, meaning the Conservative Party might fail to win a majority if Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition Labour Party snags some of the votes. The Conservatives led by Johnson are relying on achieving a majority in the 650-seat parliament in order for him to get his Brexit deal, the Withdrawal Agreement, through Parliament and for the U.K. to leave the EU by January 31, 2020.

Major events (all times ET):

7:45 a.m. ECB decision

8:30 a.m. Initial claims

8:30 a.m. PPI