US stocks rise on labor-market optimism as jobless claims hit another pandemic low

• US stocks climbed Thursday after weekly jobless claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index beat expectations.
• New jobless claims and continuing claims for unemployment insurance reached new lows for the pandemic-era.

US stocks moved up Thursday, finding support from a slip in weekly jobless claims that signaled further improvement in the labor market that's still mired in a shortage of workers.

The S&P 500 was not far from a record high following its decline in the previous session. Retail stocks were back in focus on Thursday, with Macy's and Kohl's soaring after blowing past quarterly earnings expectations and issuing bullish outlooks. They follow earnings from Target and Walmart, which also beat estimates this week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment edged down to 268,000 last week, suggesting the world's largest economy is generating jobs even in the face of multi-year high inflation. The seventh straight decline was ahead of the 260,000 claims economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Continuing claims, which count Americans applying for further unemployment insurance, dipped to 2.08 million, the lowest level since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020.

Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,696.67, up 0.17%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,928.97, down 0.01% (2.08 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 15,948.33, up 0.19%

Stocks also gained after data showed manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic area soared in November, with the Philly Fed index jumping to 39.0 from 23.8, above a consensus estimate of 24.0.

Around the markets, gold slipped 0.1% to $1,866 per ounce. The 10-year yield rose to 1.605%.

Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude was off by 0.1% at $78.25 per barrel. Brent, oil's international benchmark, picked up 0.7% to $80.77.

Bitcoin fell by 1.1% to $59,709.23.