New claims for US unemployment benefits fell again recently, continuing a downward trend that has renewed hopes the troubled labour market is on the mend.

New jobless claims fell to 382,000 in the week ending March 19, the Labour Department said.

That was a modest one per cent less than the week before, and below the level of the four-week moving average – an indication that layoffs are declining as the US economy picks up speed. “The key point here is that the underlying trend in claims remains downwards,” said Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics.

“Expect further declines over the next few months.”

The number of claims for the previous week was revised up slightly to 387,000.

Claims have been on a downward trend since mid-August last year, as the unemployment rate has steadily fallen.

High unemployment has posed a key challenge to getting the US economy back on track after the worst recession since the 1930s Great Depression.

The unemployment rate dipped to 8.9 per cent in February from 9 per cent in January.

But experts warn the economy has only created a fraction of the nearly nine million jobs lost during the recession – it needs to generate some 400,000 new positions a month to bring the unemployment rate down on a consistent basis.

An estimated 8.8 million Americans still ask the government for benefits to get by.