Hopes of a sustained recovery in the U.S. labor market have jumped, with figures released Thursday showing the number of initial claims for unemployment aid hit a four-year low last week.

The Labor Department said seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 348,000 in the week ending Feb. 11, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure.

The fresh figure marked the fourth drop in the past five weeks and the lowest number of claims since March 2008.

Fewer than 425,000 people applying for aid is considered consistent with modest job growth and fewer than 375,000 indicates a sustained drop in the jobless rate.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, edged down by 1,750 to 365,250.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Feb, 4 was 3.426 million, a decrease of 100,000 from one week earlier.

The weekly figures of jobless benefit applications reflect the level of layoffs and indicate the real-time condition of the American job market.