The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 256,500 last week, down 1,000 from the previous week’s average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor. The previous week’s average was revised downward by 250.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended July 23 were 266,000, up 14,000 from the previous week’s level, which was revised downward by 1,000.

This marks 73 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

The four-week average remains at the second-lowest level since 1973, Bloomberg reports. Initial jobless claims rose from a three-month low, consistent with the Federal Reserve’s view of a stronger job market. Initial claims rose more than the median forecast in Bloomberg’s survey of economists, which called for initial claims to increase to 262,000.

“Claims at this point are telling you that you’re really near full employment,” Brett Ryan, an economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg. “There’s no evidence that layoffs are picking up. The labor market’s chugging along.”