The number of new applications for unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 last week to 440,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, as several Republican states prepare to leave the expanded federal program early.

The figure, which represents the number of people who filed for unemployment in the previous week, was below forecasters’ expectations of 450,000 new claims. The number is also lower than the week prior, when the Labor Department reported that 478,000 people filed for unemployment, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.