Wall St opens lower after initial claims data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock opened lower on Thursday following a report showing jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the most recent week, in the latest sign that the labor market continues to struggle.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 78.54 points, or 0.46 percent, to 16,990.17, the S&P 500 lost 7.33 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,988.36 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,568.23.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)