New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks rose Thursday following news that the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits hit a 3 1/2-year low.

Just after the opening bell on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 40 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 6 points and the NASDAQ advanced 18 points.

Initial jobless claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 364,000, the Labor Department reported, reaching the lowest level since April 2008.

The data shows that the labor market is showing strong signs of gains. The improving jobless situation softened the blow from a separate report from the Commerce Department revealing that gross domestic product grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter. Growth had previously been reported to have expanded at a 2 percent pace.

Despite the tepid pace of economic growth in the third quarter, it is a step up from the April-June period’s 1.3 percent pace.

Additionally, although the rest of the world is slowing down and a mild recession is forecast in Europe next year, the U.S. economy remains resilient. Households continue to spend, home building is picking up and factory output is expanding, putting the U.S. economy on course for at least a 3 percent growth pace in the fourth quarter. That would be the fastest pace in 18 months.

Commodities were mixed in morning trading. Oil was up 47 cents at $99.14 a barrel and gold was down $3.80 at $1,609 a troy ounce.

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