NEW YORK (AP) - Investors were looking for any reason to look past the cold weather that has hampered the U.S. economy in the last few weeks, and they found it.
Stocks mostly rose Thursday, helped by a report that showed the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in three months. The gains were enough to give the Standard & Poor's 500 index its third all-time high this week.
The report on unemployment claims was one of the first bits of good news investors have gotten on the economy, following weeks of data that painted a picture of a U.S. economic recovery that was slowing down due to the severe winter weather that has hit much of the country.
The S&P 500 index rose 3.22 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,877.03.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61.71 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,421.89. The Nasdaq composite fell 5.85 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,352.13.
The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits fell by 26,000 last week to 323,000, according to the Labor Department. That was far less than the 337,000 claims economists had expected, according to FactSet, and a sign that fewer people are being laid off.