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Article updated: 3/21/2013 10:39 AM

Average for U.S. jobless claims at fresh 5-year low

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Job seekers wait to enter a career fair sponsored by National Career Fairs in Chicago in January, 2012. The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely changed last week, and the average over the past month fell to a fresh five-year low. The decline in layoffs is helping strengthen the job market.

Associated Press

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The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely changed last week, and the average over the past month fell to a fresh five-year low. The decline in layoffs is helping strengthen the job market. Weekly unemployment benefit applications rose just 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Over the past four weeks, applications have dropped by 7,500 to 339,750. That's the lowest since February 2008, just three months into the recession.