- Weekly claims for US unemployment insurance benefits plunged to their lowest level since April 2000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs across the country, dropped 34,000 in the week to April 25 from the previous week to 262,000.

The Labor Department said there were no particular reasons for the sharp decline, which if sustained could represent a further tightening of the labor market.

The fall pulled the four-week moving average to 283,750, well below the year-ago level of 321,500.