In this Feb. 13, 2012 photo, a workman cuts into a fitting at JV Northwest in Camby, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the fourth drop in five weeks and the fewest number of claims since March 2008 — six months before Lehman Brothers collapsed and only a few months into the Great Recession.

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