The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, offering hope the labor market recovery remains on track, Reuters reported.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 409,000, the U.S. Labor Department said today.

Economists polled by Reuters had predicted that claims would drop to 420,000.

“Clearly what it shows is an ongoing healing in the labor market. The recent data have been skewed by special factors like the Easter holiday and supply chain issues coming out of Japan,” said Neil Dutta, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.

“Some of the increase in jobless claims has been organic due to the slowing in the economy.”

The four-week moving average of unemployment claims, a better measure of underlying trends, rose 1,250 to 439,000 – the highest level since mid-November.

The recent jump in claims, blamed on auto layoffs because of supply chain disruptions from March’s Japanese earthquake and problems with adjusting data for seasonal variations, had raised fears of a pullback in the pace of job creation.

Employers added 244,000 jobs in April, the most in 11 months. However, the unemployment rate rose to 9 percent from 8.8 percent in March.