The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance was 259,750 last week, up 250 from the previous week’s revised average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor. The previous week’s average was revised down by 8,500.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended March 19 were 265,000, up 6,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level. This marks 55 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

No special factors affected this week’s initial claims.

Bloomberg reported hiring managers are demonstrating a preference to maintain and build staff as domestic demand continues to hold up. Initial claims rose less than the median forecast in its survey of 42 economists, which called for 269,000 in initial claims.

“There’s a cautious optimism” among hiring managers even amid weaker overseas growth prospects, David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg. “Things may slow a little as the year goes, but we’ve got a pretty healthy picture in the labor market.”