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WASHINGTON -- New jobless claims fell slightly last week while the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits rose, a sign the job market's recovery will be long and bumpy.

While most economists believe the recession has ended, they predict the jobless rate will keep rising until at least next summer as the country struggles to mount a sustained recovery. The worry is that household incomes will remain depressed and consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the total economy, will continue to lag.

"The lack of job creation remains a big headwind for cash-starved and credit-constrained consumers and thus a major impediment for the fledging recovery," Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in research note.

Most retailers posted sales declines last month as shoppers restrained back-to-school purchases to focus on necessities. Discounters did better than upscale chains, but the results Thursday raised further concern about the upcoming holiday season.

The Institute for Supply Management said its service index, which covers hospitals, retailers, financial services companies and more, inched closer to growth in August, but still contracted for the 11th straight month.

Wall Street rose modestly in light post-holiday trading Friday, but was still cautious about embarking on a year-end rally following dreary preliminary readings on holiday spending.

Not surprisingly, Americans spent much less on gifts this season than they did last year, according to SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard Advisors. Retail sales dropped between 5.5 percent and 8 percent compared with last year, the data showed, or between 2 percent and 4 percent after stripping out auto and gas sales.

Personal consumption is a huge part of U.S. economic activity - comprising more than two-thirds of gross domestic product - so Wall Street is nervous that a more frugal consumer could keep the economy weak in 2009.

Investors did get a some good news on Christmas Eve, when the Federal Reserve allowed GMAC Financial Services - the finance arm of struggling Detroit automaker General Motors Corp. - to become a bank holding company and thus qualify for the government's $700 billion rescue fund. Analysts had said that without financial help, GMAC might have had to file for bankruptcy protection or shut down

But so far, with just four trading days left in the year, no news has been upbeat enough to spark a year-end rally on Wall Street. December is usually a strong month for the stock market, with a flurry of trading known as a "Santa Claus rally" often seen in the month's final week.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.54, or 0.48 percent, to 8,509.02.

Broader stock indicators also advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.18, or 0.48 percent, to 872.33, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.98, or 0.26 percent, to 1,528.88.

Trading volumes are expected to be extremely low on Friday as they were earlier this week. When trading is light, stock movements are often not indicative of broader market sentiment. Friday is also likely to be a quiet day of trading because there are no major economic or corporate reports scheduled.