A fourth victim has died from injuries suffered in a natural gas explosion that tore through a North Carolina Slim Jim plant five months ago, a hospital spokesman said Monday.

Stocks advanced Tuesday as the two-year Treasury auction was met with solid demand and the dollar retreated.

Stocks had their best day in weeks Thursday after solid demand for another Treasury auction and encouraging earnings reports from retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond and homebuilder Lennar.

Stocks rebounded Thursday as an unexpected profit from Bed, Bath & Beyond buoyed consumer stocks — and hopes for an economic recovery.

Stocks rebounded Thursday after a lower open as weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected.

ConAgra Foods says its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 13 percent as the prior-year period benefited from the sale of its commodity-trading unit.

Futures indicated a slightly negative open for Wall Street Thursday after the Federal Reserve cautioned that the U.S. economy would remain weak for a time, adding concerns about the sustainability of a recent recovery.

An explosion that killed three workers at a North Carolina Slim Jim plant was caused by a natural gas leak that ignited in a room housing vacuum pumps for sealing the snacks, authorities say.

Survivors of an explosion at a Slim Jim snack factory in North Carolina describe a scene of chaos following the blast. Crews recover three bodies.

Increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients.