U.S. futures edge up after jobless data

U.S. stock futures edged higher Thursday after weekly jobless claims fell more than anticipated, illustrating ongoing improvement in the labor market.

U.S. stock-index futures erased mild losses after the release of Labor Department figures that had applications for unemployment insurance payments declining by 12,000 to 367,000 last week.

Separately, the government reported a 0.7% rise in U.S. productivity in the fourth quarter, roughly in line with estimates.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJ2H -0.08% climbed 5 points to 12,658 and those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index SP2H -0.02% added 0.8 point to 1,320.60.

Nasdaq 100 futures ND2H -0.03% rose 2.25 points to 2,489.75. Read more....