Filings for US unemployment benefits were at a four-decade low, Bloomberg reports. Employers remain reluctant to lay off workers as the pool of potential job candidates dries up and openings remain near record highs, making conditions ripe for wage gains that may spur Federal Reserve policy makers to raise interest rates by year’s end. The number of first-time filings for unemployment insurance was 246,000, unchanged from the previous week’s downwardly revised level, according to the US Department of Labor. The four-week average or claims, which decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers, fell by 3,500 to 249,250, the lowest level since Nov. 3, 1973.