FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, file photo, retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Thomas Gipson, of Atlanta, right, has his resume looked over by Ralph Brown, a management and program analyst with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a job fair for veterans at the VFW Post 2681,Marietta, Ga. The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits the first week of 2014 on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014. AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
January 09, 2014 - 5:36 AM
WASHINGTON - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 330,000, signalling fewer layoffs and steady job growth.
The Labor Department says the less volatile four-week average dropped 9,750 to 349,000.
A Labor spokesman said there was no indication that snow and freezing weather around much of the country caused the drop in applications.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. They appear to have stabilized near pre-recession levels after a period of volatility around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. That suggests recent job gains will continue.
Employers have added an average of 200,000 jobs a month from August through November. That's helped lower the unemployment rate to a five-year low of 7 per cent.
The government will release the December jobs report on Friday.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014