NEW YORK — Wall Street was narrowly mixed Wednesday in light holiday trading after the government released downbeat, but unsurprising, readings on U.S. joblessness and consumer spending.

The Labor Department said initial applications for unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 586,000 last week — the highest since November 1982, though the workforce has grown by about half since then. The increase was more than investors anticipated.

Jobs have been a particular concern for investors. The more people lose their jobs or fear they will lose their jobs, the more they close their wallets. And consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

The Commerce Department said consumer spending dropped 0.6 percent in November — the fifth straight monthly drop, but slightly less than the market expected. The Commerce Department also said durable goods orders fell 1 percent in November, not nearly as steep as the 3 percent decline economists had been expecting.

Wall Street has largely been factoring in bad numbers for the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, Wednesday's trading is considered largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Trading volumes were extremely low ahead of Christmas, and the markets close early Wednesday at 1 p.m. Eastern time. And with only four trading days left in 2008, most buying and selling appears to be investors trying to dress up their portfolios after a year of unprecedented market turmoil.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 33.93, or 0.40 percent, to 8,453.42.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.17, or 0.14 percent, to 864.33, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.34, or 0.09 percent, to 1,520.20.