Fewer Americans applied for jobless benefits last week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that employers are hanging on to workers despite a sluggish economy.

THE NUMBERS: The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment aid fell by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000. The less volatile four-week average dropped by 7,500 to 269,500.

Weekly jobless claims have come in below the historically low level of 300,000 for 66 straight weeks, the longest such streak since 1973.

The total number of people collecting unemployment benefits slipped below 2.1 million last week to the lowest level since 2000; it's down 7.5 percent from a year ago.

Applications for unemployment aid are a proxy for layoffs, so the jobless claims figures suggest employees are enjoying job security despite a recent slowdown in hiring.

Just because employers aren't cutting jobs doesn't mean they are hiring. U.S. employers added just 116,000 jobs a month from March to May, making it the weakest three months of hiring since mid-2012.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that employers advertised the most job openings in nine months but were reluctant to fill them.