By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The number of people seeking unemployment aid was unchanged last week and the four-week average of applications fell to its lowest point in four years, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The figures are the latest evidence that the job market is improving.

The Labor Department said 351,000 laid-off workers sought unemployment aid last week. That’s the fewest number of people seeking unemployment assistance since March 2008, just a few months into the recession.

The four-week average, which smooths week-to-week fluctuations, dropped for the sixth-consecutive week to 359,000. That’s also the lowest since March 2008.

Applications have fallen steadily since last October. The average has declined 13.5 percent since then. When applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Economists said the level suggested the economy would have another strong month of hiring in February, similar to the average net gain of about 200,000 in the previous three months.

The number of people receiving unemployment aid also fell. The total benefit rolls dropped to 7.5 million in the week that ended Feb. 4, the latest data available. That’s down from nearly 7.7 million in the previous week.

The report covers the week that the government surveyed companies to calculate how many jobs had been added or lost for the monthly employment report. Economists frequently pay close attention to the application figures during those so-called survey weeks. If applications fall from one month’s survey week to the next, it could signal a stronger jobs report.

Weekly applications have fallen only 4,000 compared with last month’s survey week. But the four-week average has dropped 20,000.

That “bodes well for the February payroll report,” said Jennifer Lee, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. “The positive trend continues.”

Hiring has picked up in recent months. The economy added 243,000 net jobs in January, the most in nine months. The unemployment rate dropped for the fifth consecutive month, to 8.3 percent — the lowest in nearly three years.