The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance was 267,500 last week, down 2,500 from the previous week’s downwardly revised 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 March 5 were 259,000, down 18,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Bloomberg reported initial claims dropped to the lowest level in five months and that the number of firings remained consistent with a solid labor market. Claims were less than the median forecast in its survey of 48 economists, which called for 275,000 in initial claims.

“The labor market is holding in, and it’s even more impressive than I think most expected given the backdrop of the volatility in markets,” Kevin Cummins, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Conn., told Bloomberg. “Labor demand is very strong, and that comes despite the tightening in financial conditions.”