The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid last week fell sharply, indicating the labor market improvement had resumed after three months of weak hiring, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 377,000 in the week ending June 2, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure. It was the first decline in five weeks.

The four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, ticked up to 377,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised figure. It was the highest level in a month.

The number of jobless claims, a measure of the pace of layoffs, indicates a sustained drop in the unemployment rate when it is below 375,000. But the reading has been hovering around the benchmark in the past month, which raised fears the job market was losing steam.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 26 was 3.293 million, up 34,000 from the prior week.

The U.S. unemployment rate has fallen from 9.1 percent in August last year to 8.1 percent in April this year, but rebounded to 8.2 percent in May. The Federal Reserve has forecast the jobless rate may only fall to 7.8 to 8 percent by the end of this year.