Latest: Stock market today: Wall Street holds near record levels, with S&P 500 on precipice of 5,000
NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks are holding near record levels Thursday as evidence keeps piling up to show the job market remains remarkably solid.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading, a day after coming within a fraction of a point of the 5,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 24 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was flat.The U.S. economy has blown past earlier expectations for a recession, and the latest show of strength came from a report indicating fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. The number remains low relative to history, even if layoffs at Google’s parent company, Macy’s and other big-name companies have been getting attention recently.In prior months, such ...