First-time claims for jobless benefits fell last week to a one-month low, helping allay concern that the labor market may suffer an extended setback, Bloomberg reported.

Jobless claims dropped by 1,000 to 367,000 in the period ended May 5, in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and the lowest since the end of March, the U.S. Department of Labor said today.

The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls was the smallest since July 2008.

The data suggest that the surge in claims in the first three weeks of April was probably tied to the timing of the Easter holiday rather than a deterioration in employment, Bloomberg said.

The figures are “consistent with decent job growth but certainly not blockbuster,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC. “We’re seeing nice, steady job growth but not what we’d like to see given the number of jobs we lost during the recession.”

The latest week’s figure compares with an average of 373,000 claims since the end of February.