WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, while two reports on manufacturing suggested the economy continued to expand moderately. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The four-week moving average, considered a better measure of labor market trends, dropped 5,500 to 370,000. Claims have barely budged in the past four weeks, indicating a marginal improvement in the pace of job creation after April's disappointing 115,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls. "We might see a modest pickup in (jobs) growth in May versus April," said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina. Financial information services firm Markit said its "flash" manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 53.9, a three-month low, from 56.0 in April. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Separately, new orders for durable goods in April rose 0.2 percent after dropping 3.7 percent in March, the Commerce Department said. Orders for durable goods, which vary from toasters to aircraft, were lifted by demand for transportation equipment. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, fell 1.9 percent in April after dropping 2.2 percent in March. "It looks more and more like businesses are hesitating to invest in the face of worsening uncertainties in the and global economy," said Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics in New York. Stock indexes opened flat, while government bond prices were little changed. The dollar extended gains against the euro. Though jobless claims have been little changed for much of May, there are no signs of deterioration in the labor market. The so-called continuing claims data covered the week used by the household survey to derive the unemployment rate. The jobless rate dropped to 8.1 percent in April from 8.2 percent the prior month, mostly because more people gave up the hunt for work. While more states are losing eligibility for extended benefits for the long-term unemployed, that is not yet being fully captured in the claims data as the figures are reported with a time lag. Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington and Ellen Freilich in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Padraic Cassidy