The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 265,000 last week, down 1,500 from the previous week’s average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor. The average for the previous week was revised slightly downward.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended April 9 were 253,000, down 13,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level. This marks 58 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Bloomberg reported the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits last week matched a more than 42-year low set in November 1973, indicating employers are upbeat about an economy that bogged down in the first quarter. Initial claims fell more than the median forecast in its survey of economists, which called for initial claims to fall to 270,000.

Jobless claims are running really low and all other labor market data are telling us that the economy is creating a lot of jobs,” Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., told Bloomberg. “This is further confirmation that the labor market is strong.”