Stock futures have improved throughout pre-market trading, getting a significant boost from a pair of upbeat economic reports.

The number of people filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 20,000 to 512,000 in the week ending Oct. 31, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It's the fewest initial claims since early January. Initial jobless claims have been above 500,000 for 51 straight weeks.

U.S. companies increased their output in the third quarter even as they slashed working hours, driving productivity up at a 9.5% annual rate in the quarter, the Labor Department estimated Thursday, according to MarketWatch. Unit labor costs -- a key measure of inflation -- dropped at a 5.2% annual rate in the quarter.

Stock futures were initially lower as Wall Street continues to rethink its initial positive reaction to the Federal Reserve statement issued Wednesday afternoon. Stocks began their slide in the final minutes of Wednesday's trade, a move that shaved a relatively strong advance to near unchanged by the time the final bell rang.

The market initially cheered the Fed's indication that it would leave rates at accomodative levels, offering no signal on when rates might be raised. But some wording in the statement also raised worries that the recovery isn't as solid as some data would indicate.

The Bank of England this morning left its interest rates at historic lows as expected but also felt compelled to conduct more asset buys in order to keep credit flowing. The BOE expanded its quantitative easing program by 25 billion pounds, or roughly $41 billion. That news sent the British pound higher. The European Central Bank left its key rate at 1% as expected.

As for individual movers, Cisco (CSCO) is an active extended-hours gainer after reporting results and guidance in Wednesday evening's session. The company guides for Q2 revenue to grow 1% to 4% year-over-year or a range of about $9.18 billion to $9.45 billion. The Street is at $8.97 billion. Cisco reported Q1 non-GAAP EPS of $0.36 per share, a nickel better than the analyst mean on Thomson Reuters. Sales were $9 bln, ahead of expectations of $8.74 bln.

Most retailers are reporting improved results and some are raising outlooks, but a few key teen apparel names are exceptions. Aeropostale (ARO) is down sharply. The compnay reports Q3 sales of $567.8 mln, below the Street view of $572 mln. EPS are seen in the range of $0.90 to $0.91 per share, up from previous guidance of $0.84 to $0.85 per share.