A wave of economic data hit the Street this morning, beginning with the New York Federal Reserve Bank's Empire State Manufacturing Index for May. The data showed that manufacturing activity in the New York area decreased slightly in May, with the index falling to negative 3.2 from 0.6 in April. Economists, on average, predicted the index to stay essentially flat. The decline marks the third month out of 4 that the index has been negative (sub-zero readings indicate contraction).

Following that dismal news, the Labor Department reported that first-time jobless claims rose 6,000 in the latest week, to dock at a seasonally adjusted basis of 371,000. The 4-week average of initial claims fell 1,000 to 365,000. Meanwhile, the number of people collecting benefits tacked on 28,000 to 3.06 million, pushing the 4-week average of continuing claims to 3.02 million the highest level in more than 4 years. On a year-over-year basis, both initial and continuing jobless claims are up roughly 23%, respectively.

As if that weren't enough to digest, the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from the Automobile Association of America revealed that the average U.S. gasoline price rose approximately 2 cents to $3.78 a gallon in just the last day. The cost of gasoline has vaulted 22% higher from its year-prior price of $3.10 a gallon. On a monthly basis, the cost of gasoline is up around 11.5%.