US applications for jobless aid fall to four-decade low

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a four-decade low last week, a sign that employers are unconcerned about weak economic growth in the first three months of 2016.The Labor Department says weekly applications for jobless benefits declined to a seasonally adjusted 247,000, the lowest reading since November 1973. The four-week average, a less-volatile figure, dropped 4,500 to 260,500.Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The historically low figures indicate