NEW YORK, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street climbed in early trading Thursday, after the U.S. government posted better-than-expected reading on economic growth and a drop in jobless claims.
The U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 3.3 percent for the second quarter due to strong exports growth boosted by a weaker dollar. The reading beat previous estimates.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said the number of jobless claims dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 425,000 last week. Analysts had expected it fell to 427,000. The third straight fall of jobless claims alleviated investors' concerns about the ailing labor market.
The Dow Jones rose 80.85 to 11583.36. Broader indexes also traded higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 8.46 to 1,290.12; and the Nasdaq rose 11.69 to 2,394.15.
