WASHINGTON (AP) – Fewer people sought unemployment aid last week for the second week in a row, the latest evidence that hiring is likely solid. The Labor Department says that weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 268,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased to 278,500. The figures, along with other recent data, suggest the economy is picking up a bit after barely expanding in the first three months of the year. Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so last week’s decline is a sign that companies are confident enough to hold onto their workers. When layoffs are low, hiring is typically steady. Applications have been below 300,000, a historically low level, for 64 weeks, the longest such streak since 1973.
