NEW YORK - A worse-than-expected report on weekly jobless claims wasn't enough to dampen the stock market early Thursday.
The Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report showed more workers filed last week for unemployment benefits than anticipated. New claims jumped to 637,000, above 610,000 economists had anticipated.
The number of people overall seeking unemployment benefits also grew faster than expected, increasing to 6.56 million, while continuing claims hit a 15th consecutive record.
Separately, a new report showed inflation at the wholesale level jumped more than expected in April. Wholesale prices rose 0.3 percent last month, larger than the 0.1 percent analysts had expected.
In early morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.25, or 0.50 percent, to 8,326.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.30, or 0.49 percent, to 888.20, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 14.36, or 0.86 percent, to 1,678.55.
Investors also received some insight into consumer spending as retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported first-quarter results that met analysts' expectations. Wal-Mart earned $3.02 billion, or 77 cents per share.
Wal-Mart had been performing better than most retailers during the ongoing recession. It shares fell 4 cents to $49.99.
Sunday
March 2nd, 2025
3:11PM
