US equities (^GSPC, ^DJI, ^IXIC) are set to open higher on Thursday as the number of initial jobless claims filed for the week ending August 3 fell to 233,000, less than the 240,000 economists had been expecting. The cooler-than-expected data has some investors breathing a sigh of relief following last week's July jobs report, which showed the labor market was slowing more than Wall Street thought.

Yahoo Finance reporter Josh Schafer joins Morning Brief to break down the numbers and what they mean for the market moving forward.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief.

This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino