U.S. stocks rose Thursday, with the Dow industrials hitting a one-month high. In U.S. economic news, jobless claims fell less than expected last week to 840,000, signaling the labor market is making little progress in returning millions of unemployed people to work. The U.S. dollar was little changed versus a basket of other currencies as investors waited for fresh news on whether new U.S. fiscal stimulus is likely in the near term. Gold rose slightly as uncertainty about the U.S. presidential election improved risk appetite. Futures advanced 0.2 percent to $1,896.10 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil climbed to a five-week high on support from U.S. output shutdowns ahead of another hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and the potential for more supply losses amid an oil-worker labor strike in Norway. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained $1.24, or 3.1 percent, to $41.19 per barrel. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 122.05, or 0.4 percent, to 28,425.51. Twenty-five of the index's 30 components climbed, led by IBM, which jumped 6 percent after the company announced its plan to spin off its information-technology (IT) unit. American Express gained 3 percent, and Dow Inc. advanced 2.2 percent. Biotechnology firm Amgen plunged 6.8 percent, leading decliners. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 27.38, or 0.8 percent, to 3,446.83. Airline shares rose in volatile trading. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 56.38, or 0.5 percent, to 11,420.98. Facebook climbed 2.2 percent, and Google-parent Alphabet advanced 1.7 percent. Netflix dropped 0.5 percent, Amazon lost 0.2 percent, and Apple declined 0.1 percent.