Stocks held near record levels on Wall Street as evidence kept piling up to show the job market remains remarkably solid.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% Thursday, just a few points shy of closing above the 5,000 level for the first time. The Dow rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

The latest show of strength for the economy came from a report indicating fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. The Walt Disney Co. jumped after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

On Thursday:

The S&P 500 rose 2.85 points, or 0.1%, to 4,997.91.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.97 points, or 0.1%, to 38,726.33.

The Nasdaq composite rose 37.07 points, or 0.2%, to 15,793.71.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 29.34 points, or 1.5%, to 1,979.70.

For the week:

The S&P 500 is up 39.30 points, or 0.8%.

The Dow is up 71.91 points, or 0.2%.

The Nasdaq is up 164.76 points, or 1.1%.

The Russell 2000 is up 16.97 points, or 0.9%.

For the year:

The S&P 500 is up 228.08 points, or 4.8%.

The Dow is up 1,036.79 points, or 2.8%.

The Nasdaq is up 782.36 points, or 5.2%.

The Russell 2000 is down 47.37 points, or 2.3%.