Weekly jobless claims drop sharply to lowest level in four years Applicants speak to recruiters at an Anaheim job fair. New claims for jobless benefits fell last week for the third consecutive week. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press / June 13, 2012 July 12, 2012, 8:16 a.m. WASHINGTON -- New claims for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 350,000, the lowest level in more than four years, the government reported Thursday. The drop of 26,000 in initial jobless claims followed a drop of 12,000 the previous week and brought the figure to a level that economists say is consistent with strong job growth. But the new numbers from the Labor Department were inconsistent with recent signs the recovery had stalled, including Friday's unemployment report showing just 80,000 net new jobs were created in May. May job growth fell below economists' projections, and the unemployment rate remained at 8.2%. It was one of several recent signs that the European debt crisis and uncertainty about large tax increases and spending cuts set to hit in the U.S. in January have slowed growth here and abroad. Concerns about the slowdown have put pressure on the Federal Reserve to take action to stimulate the economy. The weekly unemployment numbers can vary widely, and last week's drop could be due to unusual factors. But it was the third weekly drop in a row and the figure was down significantly from the 392,000 initial claims filed during the week ending June 16. The more reliable four-week average also dropped last week by 9,750 to 376,500, the Labor Department said. The last time the economy saw less than 350,000 people apply for unemployment benefits was in March 2008, just a few months into the Great Recession. By mid-2008, weekly claims were well above 400,000 and soared to a high of 667,000 in March 2009 before starting a gradual decline. Euro zone could lose 4.5 million more jobs, UN agency warns