NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average climbed to another record Thursday as the number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits fell to a six-week low, showing further improvement in the labor market.

Bank of America rallied 2.9 percent as financial stocks advanced. Boeing jumped 2.5 percent, leading gains among the biggest U.S. companies. Ciena and JDS Uniphase surged at least 7.6 percent as Ciena posted earnings that topped estimates. PetSmart tumbled 6.6 percent as forecasts for earnings and sales growth missed projections.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.2 percent to 1,544.26, the highest since Oct. 31, 2007. The Dow rose 33.25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,329.49. More than 6.1 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges Thursday, 2.9 percent below the three-month average.

First-time jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 340,000 last week, the lowest since the period ended Jan. 19, according to Labor Department data. The median forecast called for 355,000. The four-week average dropped to a five-year low. A separate Labor Department report Friday may show nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey.

The trade deficit in the U.S. widened more than forecast in January as demand for imported crude oil rebounded. The gap grew to $44.4 billion from $38.1 billion in December, Commerce Department figures showed.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stuck to his view that the euro-area economy will gradually recover later this year. The ECB on Thursday predicted the 17-nation economy will shrink 0.4 percent this year, more than the 0.3 percent contraction forecast three months ago. The central bank lowered its 2014 inflation projection to 1.3 percent from 1.4 percent.

The 116-year-old Dow extended a record high Wednesday as a private report showed companies hired more workers

than estimated and the Federal Reserve said the economy is growing. The S&P 500 is just 1.4 percent below a record as the bull market enters its fifth year.

The benchmark index has surged 128 percent from a 12-year low in 2009 as companies reported better-than-estimated earnings and the Fed embarked on three rounds of bond purchases to stimulate the economy.

Financial companies rallied the most out of 10 S&P 500 groups, jumping 0.7 percent. Twenty-three out of 24 members in the KBW Bank Index rose, as the gauge climbed 1.2 percent to its highest level since May 2010. Bank of America, the second- largest U.S. lender, added 2.9 percent to $12.26. Lenders were slated to get preliminary word Thursday from the Federal Reserve's stress tests about whether their capital plans are approved.

Investors bought shares of companies tied to economic growth, sending material and energy stocks higher among S&P 500 groups. Technology shares advanced 0.3 percent.

Ciena surged 17 percent to $17.53. The maker of fiber-optic networking equipment reported first-quarter profit of 12 cents a share, compared with a 14-cent loss estimated by analysts on average. Revenue in the period also beat projections. Rival JDS Uniphase added 7.6 percent to $15.23.

Smithfield Foods rallied 11 percent to $24.68. The pork producer posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of 58 cents a share, topping the average analyst estimate of 50 cents.

Time Warner climbed 2.4 percent to $56.78 after saying its board authorized managers to later this year spin off the magazine unit, which publishes Time, People and Sports Illustrated, into a separate publicly held company. The sale will help Time Warner to focus on its film- and TV-production businesses, CEO Jeff Bewkes said.

Boeing jumped 2.5 percent to $81.05, its highest level since June 2008. Emirates, the largest operator of Boeing's 777 aircraft, said the U.S. manufacturer is getting closer to offering a new version that will seek to defend its lead against Airbus SAS in the wide-body market.

Gap climbed 4.1 percent to $35.87, the highest level in four months. The retailer reported comparable-store sales in February rose 3 percent, exceeding the 2.3 percent increase estimated by analysts on average.

Apache advanced 2.9 percent to $75.65 as the fourth- largest U.S. independent oil and gas producer by market value may begin a process to sell deep-water assets in the Gulf of Mexico as early as next week, a person familiar with the matter said.

PetSmart tumbled 6.6 percent to $62.18 after forecasting sales growth of 2 percent to 4 percent in 2013, implying revenue of $6.89 billion to $7.03 billion. That missed the average analyst estimate of $7.08 billion. The company also forecast earnings of no more than $3.92 a share, compared with the average analyst projection of $3.94 a share.