U.S. stocks fell in early trading Thursday following the Labor Department's latest unemployment report and a substantial loss reported by Walgreens.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by abut 300 points after the opening bell. By 1 p.m. EDT, the blue chip stock index was down about 380 points.

The S&P 500 was down about 20 points early Thursday afternoon, while the Nasdaq was up a dozen points.

Earlier, the Labor Department reported that 1.3 million additional American workers filed new unemployment claims last week, a decline of about 100,000 from the previous week.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, a major pharmacy and healthcare chain, also announced plans Thursday to lay off about 4,000 workers due to losses attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company reported a third-quarter loss of 1.7 billion.

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