The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance last week edged down by 1,750 to an average of 276,750 claims, 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 May 28 were 267,000, down 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level.

This marks 65 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Separately, the Austin-Round Rock area in Texas had the lowest unemployment rate in April, at 2.9%, among US metropolitan areas with populations of 1 million or more, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis., metropolitan area posted the highest jobless rate among large metro areas at 6.2% in April.

Among metropolitan areas of all sizes, Ames, Iowa, had the lowest unemployment rate in April at 2.0%. El Centro, Calif., had the highest unemployment rate at 20.1%