Stocks edge higher after encouraging jobs reports

NEW YORK (AP) - More evidence of an improving job market helped lift stocks Thursday.

The pair of employment reports also boosted the yield on 10-year Treasury notes to 3 percent, the highest level since July 2011.

The Labor Department reported that the four-week average of applications for U.S. unemployment benefits has fallen in the past month to its lowest point since October 2007, two months before the Great Recession officially began.

Also, a survey from the payroll company ADP showed that American businesses added 176,000 jobs in August, fewer than in June and July but roughly in line with the monthly average for the year.

The encouraging news came one day before the government releases its closely watched report on job growth for August. Many investors believe that strong growth will ensure that the Federal Reserve will start to reduce, or "taper," its bond-buying program later this month.