⁍ Major U.S. stock averages treaded water on Thursday as investors awaited a new fiscal aid package to prop up the country’s economy.

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⁍ Still, the tech-heavy Nasdaq clinched a new record high in early trading.

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⁍ The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow were about 2% and 8% away from their own peaks scaled in February.

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– US employers ramped up hiring in July, adding 227,000 jobs—more than expected—and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Labor Department says the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 12,000 last week, while the number of jobs added by private employers rose by a higher-than-expected 47,000. The Journal notes that the four-week average of jobless claims, a less volatile measure, fell for the first time in three weeks. Stocks were mixed in early trading, with the Dow down 4 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq down 9 points, or 0.09%, per Reuters.