WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump grasped onto Friday's better-than-anticipated jobless numbers as a life raft for his floundering reelection campaign, arguing that the economy is springing back from the coronavirus pandemic like "a rocket ship" and claiming personal credit for its resiliency.

U.S. stocks climbed during a scattershot session Thursday as investors latched onto a recovery in oil prices and ignored another week of daunting jobless claims.