Unemployment Applications Hit 40-Year Low

(WASHINGTON) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a four-decade low last week, a sign that employers are unconcerned about weak economic growth in the first three months of 2016.

THE NUMBERS: Weekly applications for jobless benefits declined to a seasonally adjusted 247,000, the lowest reading since November 1973, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less-volatile figure, dropped 4,500 to 260,500.