NEW YORK - Stock futures are pushing higher after the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in workers seeking unemployment benefits.

Futures got a boost Thursday after the Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell to 512,000 last week, the lowest level since January. Economists had expected 523,000 new claims.

The report offered investors fresh hope that the government's monthly report on employment Friday may come in better than expected. Economists expect the unemployment rate to have risen to 9.9 percent in October.

Rising unemployment is one of the economy's biggest obstacles to sustained growth. Consumer spending, which is a major component of economic activity, will be sluggish so long as job losses remain high.

In a sign of the ongoing constraints on consumer spending, October sales reports from major retailers are mixed. Grocery and consumer goods stores like Costco Wholesale Corp. are posting increases in sales, but many apparel retailers are still struggling.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 53, or 0.5 percent, to 9,838, after being up about 13 points prior to the jobs report. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.30, or 0.5 percent, to 1,052.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 10.50, or 0.6 percent, to 1,697.25.

Mixed data have made it difficult for investors to get a sense of where the economy is headed, leading to increasingly choppy stock trading. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday described an improving economy, but also said it would keep interest rates low for "an extended period" to help stimulate growth.

Low interest rates have one of the drivers in the stock market's more than 50 percent gain since March, encouraging investors to search for assets with higher yields than cash. But investors worry that the Fed's pledge to keep rates low for some time signals that the central bank believes the economic recovery is fragile.

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