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Wall Street saw a strong open Thursday, after the U.S. government reported better-than-expected jobless claims and productivity numbers.
The U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped by 20,000 to 512,000 last week, the fewest since January, from 532,000 the prior week, a sign job losses are slowing as the economy begins to recover.
The Labor Department also reported that the measure of employee output per hour jumped at a 9.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the fastest pace in six years and topping the highest estimate.
Investors also closely watched the recovery of consumer spending. October sales reports from major retailers are mixed early Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corp. posted a 5 percent jump in sales at stores open at least a year, but many apparel retailers are still struggling.
The Dow Jones rose 88.57 to 9,890.71. Broader indexes also went higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.19 to 1,054.69 and the Nasdaq climbed 22.53 to 2,078.05.