US unemployment benefit applications drop for 3rd week to 340,000, evidence of fewer layoffs.

WASHINGTON – The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, a sign that employers are laying off very few workers.

The Labor Department’s first-time application figures were largely free of the distortions that had elevated the data earlier in the month.

The 16-day partial government shutdown and backlogs in California due to computer upgrades still inflated the four-week average. The average rose 8,000 to 356,250, the highest since April.

Still, those distortions are no longer affecting the weekly data, a government spokesman said. The shutdown ended Oct. 16.

Applications are now close to the pre-recession levels that were reached in August, before California’s computer problems distorted the data.