REUTERS/Mike Segar
Job seekers stand in line to meet with prospective employers at a career fair in New York City.
Economists forecast that claims fell slightly to 277,000 last week from 279,000 in the prior week.
Last week's data was the 14th straight week that unemployment claims came in below 300,000.
In a weekly preview of the economy, UBS's Kevin Cummins wrote: "At 279,000, the latest four-week average in jobless claims remains below the trend in 2014 (308,000 in the full year, 289,000 in Q4), suggesting the trend in payrolls should remain at least as strong as last year's 260,000 per-month average. Payroll gains have averaged 217,000 so far this year."