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.
Applications have been steadily declining since last fall. The four-week average fell 4 percent in the January-March quarter, after dropping 8 percent in the final three months of last year.
When unemployment benefit applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.
The downward trend in applications is a promising sign ahead of Friday's report on March job growth. Employers added an average of 245,000 jobs per month from December through February. And the unemployment rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in August to 8.3 percent in February, the lowest in three years.
Economists forecast that employers added 210,000 jobs last month, although they expect the unemployment rate was unchanged for the second straight month.
"We believe that the economy has entered a more self-sustaining phase of the recovery with stronger job creation," said John Ryding, an analyst at RDQ Economics, in a note to clients.

Source: AP