The U.S. economy got some relief from a favorable unemployment report on Thursday, and the stock markets responded in kind with strong gains from the opening bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 500 points a half hour after the markets opened, helping to counter the massive losses sustained in trading earlier this week. As of 10:23 a.m., the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 also saw gains in the 1.5% range.

The Labor Department reported that first-time filings for unemployment benefits were lower than projections. The seasonally adjusted figure of 233,000 was 7,000 lower than expected and 17,000 fewer than the previous week's number.

The news comes amid fears of a worsening jobs market and a potential recession as Friday's non-farm payroll report cast doubts about the so-called "soft landing" the Federal Reserve has used its fiscal-tightening policies to engineer.

The global stock market reacted harshly to that news as the three major US indices sustained heavy losses over the past week. Thursday's rebound has investors hoping for a quick recovery and that the Fed will soon cut interest rates.