April 17 (Bloomberg) — The number of Americans filling for unemployment insurance payments last week hovered near the lowest level in almost seven years, showing the job market is making progress.

Jobless claims increased by 2,000 to 304,000 in the week ended April 12 from a revised 302,000 the prior period that was the lowest since September 2007, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 315,000. The total number of people receiving benefits fell to the lowest since the last recession began.

Dismissals are on the decline as companies, already lean from recession-era job cutting, gear up for rising sales as the economy strengthens. Even with the improvement, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said yesterday that policy makers must be mindful of how short the U.S. still remains of achieving its goals of full employment and price stability.