Martina Ryberg, right, of Plymouth State University talks with Tara Rossetti of On Call International during a job fair for college students on April 4, 2012 in Manchester, N.H. The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a four-year low last week, as layoffs slow and the job market strengthens. The Labor Department says weekly unemployment benefit applications dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000. That’s the fewest since April 2008. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell to a four-year low last week, suggesting employers kept hiring in March at a healthy pace.
Weekly applications dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the fewest since April 2008.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to 361,750, also the lowest in four years. The average has dropped nearly 13 percent in the past six months.
When unemployment benefit applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.