Jobs, manufacturing data lifts stocks

Investors shifted their attention from Europe to the United States Thursday, pushing stocks slightly higher on good reports about jobs and manufacturing.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.33 points, or 0.38 percent, to 11,868.81. The Dow had lost 360 points over the past three days on worries that Europe's latest plan to keep its currency union intact would fail.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 3.93, or 0.32 percent, to 1215.75. The Nasdaq was up 1.70, or 0.07 percent, to close at 2,541.01.

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Bank, said the break from selling meant investors are starting to focus on signs of strength in the U.S. economy.

"We're not completely insulated [from Europe], but trouble there doesn't necessarily spell problems for us," he said.

Before the market opened, the government reported the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped sharply last week to 366,000, the fewest since May 2008. That's a sign that layoffs are easing, a first step toward bringing down the unemployment rate, which currently stands at 8.6 percent.

Investors were also encouraged by a report from the Federal Reserve of New York that its index measuring regional manufacturing jumped to the highest level since May. That was far more than economists were expecting. A similar report from the Philadelphia branch of the Fed also increased faster than analysts anticipated.

"The base of the economy is getting stronger," said Steven Malin, an associate at money manager Aronson Johnson Ortiz.