us stocks opened higher after fresh data showed a drop in weekly jobless claims signaling that layoffs remain near record lows in a tight labor market even as the us economy slows the dow jones industrial average djia was up around 01 soon after the opening bell while the sp 500 spx gained 04 and the nasdaq composite comp rose 06 according to factset data at last check initial jobless claims in the week ended aug 20 fell to a onemonth low of 243000 data released thursday by the labor department show the us economy contracted at a revised 06 annual pace during the second quarter after shrinking by 16 in the first three months of the year according to a report thursday from the commerce department