US stocks open lower

New York, May 3 (IANS) US stock opened lower Thursday on job market concerns.

The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, Xinhua reported.

Although the weekly jobless claims hit its biggest drop since last May, the Automatic Data Processing survey showed Wednesday that private employers added only 119,000 jobs last month, about half of March's figure.

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 7.56 points, or 0.06 percent, at 13,261.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 1.67 points, or 0.12 percent, to 1,400.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.28 points, or 0.17 percent, to 3,054.90.