US jobless aid applications fell to 42-year low last month
The number of people seeking US unemployment aid barely rose last week and the average level of applications in the past month fell to a 42-year low.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications rose just 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 260,000, a very low level historically that suggests employers are cutting few jobs.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped 4,000 to 259,250. That is the fewest since December 1973.
