The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance was 272,000 last week, down 1,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Feb. 20 were 272,000, up 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Bloomberg reported the average over the past four weeks was the lowest so far this year and that the initial claims increase in part reflects the typical swings during holiday periods. Claims exceeded the median forecast in its survey of 46 economists, which called for 270,000 in initial claims.

“Claims will remain pretty low,” Sarah House, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Bloomberg before the report. “The level of layoffs is remarkably low. It’s consistent with an improving labor market.”