The four-week moving average for first-time claims fell to 266,250 in the week ending Aug. 8, tied for the lowest level since April of 2000.
The last time the average was lower was in December of 1973.
The improvement came despite a slight uptick in the weekly number for first-time claims for unemployment benefits. Claims rose from 270,000 to a still-low 274,000 for the week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Investors had expected claims to remains steady from the week before at about 270,000. Jobless claims are adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.
With Thursday’s release, claims for unemployment insurance benefits held near the very low levels they have scraped throughout the summer.
This summer, both the moving average and the weekly number for claims have at different times touched levels as low as they’ve been since the late 1970s, when the size of the labor force was roughly only two-thirds of what it was today.
Economists view low initial claims for unemployment benefits as a sign that layoffs are slowing and job growth is accelerating. The Labor Department reports on claims in the states on a weekly basis.
A separate report from the Labor Department released Wednesday showed layoffs rising in June, but within the low range that layoffs have stayed within over the course of the past few years.
The biggest drop in unemployment insurance claims in the week was in California, which saw over 3,000 fewer claims.
Altogether, there were 2.26 million people receiving unemployment benefits through July 25, down from 2.54 million a year ago. Unemployment insurance is available for up to 26 weeks.
