By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose slightly on Thursday as an unexpected fall in jobless claims helped boost sentiment on the labor market, considered the economy's biggest obstacle to a strong recovery.
Weekly jobless claims declined more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 473,000 in the latest week.
"After last week's disappointing figure, today's number is certainly a relief, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still very elevated at this point of an economic expansion," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak + Co in New York.
"The labor market still remains very sluggish, with businesses still reluctant to hire and take risk."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 0.15 points, or 0.00 percent, at 10,060.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 1.53 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,056.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 5.17 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,146.71.
The jobless report came a day after weak readings on durable goods and home sales added to a string of bearish data that underlined concerns about a double-dip recession.
Central bankers from around the world will converge later Thursday on the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, mountain resort to assess the darkening economic outlook.
In a speech on Friday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to discuss the uncertain prospects for the economy, but isn't expected to give many clues about whether the central bank will pump more cash into the economy to keep the recovery going.
In merger news, data storage company 3PAR Inc
Other economic data on tap later Thursday includes the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank's July Midwest manufacturing report and the Kansas City Fed's August manufacturing report.
Novell Inc
(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
