Wall Street opens higher on strong labor market data

Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as strong private sector employment data and a drop in jobless claims pointed to a steadying labor market ahead of the monthly payrolls report on Friday. The ADP national employment report showed that 172,000 jobs were added in the private sector in June, compared to economists' expectation of 159,000. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits also fell unexpectedly last week, confirming that the labor market remains on solid footing despite t