Stock index features added to gains in choppy trade on Thursday after data revealed that U.S. claims for unemployment benefits declined last week while U.S nonfarm productivity increased for the third quarter.

The Labor Department stated Thursday that weekly applications fell 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 397,000, the lowest level seen in five weeks. It’s only the third time since April that applications have remained below 400,000.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, declined to 404,500, the fifth drop in the past six weeks. The declines have indicated companies are laying off fewer employees.

These figures come out a day before the government issues the October jobs report. Economists have expected it will show a net gain of 100,000 jobs, with unemployment remaining at 9.1 percent. Applications need to fall below 375,000 to signal sustained job gains. They have not been at that level since the month of February.

The economy is growing modestly but not by enough to encourage more hiring. Last week, the government stated that the economy expanded at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the July-September quarter, the best quarterly growth seen in the year.

That is strong enough to calm fears of another recession. Still, growth would have to remain nearly twice as high-consistently- to create a major dent in the unemployment rate, which has been stuck around 9 percent for more than two years now.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated on Wednesday that growth is likely to be “frustratingly slow,” after the Fed sharply lowered its economic projections for the next two years.

The Fed now says the economy will likely expand to no more than 1.7 percent for all of 2011. That is down from its June forecast of 2.7 percent to 2.9 percent. It also predicted growth for only 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent next year. In June, the Fed had estimated growth of 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent in 2012.

The Fed has stated that it does not expect the unemployment rate to be lower any time this year. And it sees unemployment at 8.6 percent by the end of next year. In June, it has predicted unemployment to fall in 2012 to as low as 7.8 percent.

The ECB lowered its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 as the euro zone’s worsening debt crisis had outweighed the concern over the persistently high inflation.

S&P 500 futures increased 9.4 points and remained above fair value, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures increased 90 points. The Nasdaq 100 futures increased by 6.5 points as well.

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