Wall Street opens flat ahead of Jackson Hole meeting

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened little changed on Thursday as many investors held off on making bets ahead of the start of a meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, though jobless claims data pointed to continued improvement in the labor market.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 22.67 points or 0.13 percent, to 17,001.8, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 1.35 points or 0.07 percent, to 1,987.86 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 0.76 points or 0.02 percent, to 4,527.24.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Bernadette Baum)