NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street rose Thursday despite worse-than-expected retail sales and job data.

    The U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for jobless benefits increased by 11,000 to 444,000 last week, more than analysts expected.

    In a separate report released by the Commerce Department, U.S. retail sales fell 0.3 percent in December, indicating consumers tend to restrain holiday spending amid high unemployment rates.

    Meanwhile, U.S. business inventories rose 0.4 percent in November, fueled chiefly by rising wholesale and manufacturing stockpiles, the Commerce Department announced Thursday.

    The Dow Jones rose 29.55, or 0.28 percent, to 10,710.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.78, or 0.24 percent, to 1,148.46 and the Nasdaq gained 8.84 to 2,316.74.