WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — New applications for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week after a spike the week before, largely reflecting seasonal quirks around Easter and spring break and signaling little change in the trajectory of a slowly mending labor market.

Initial jobless claims sank by 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000 in the week ended April 30, the Labor Department said Thursday. That is the smallest number of applications in three weeks and puts claims back near the same levels that have prevailed for most of 2013.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims, a rough gauge of layoffs, to drop to 360,000 from a revised 388,000 in the prior week.

In U.S. markets, investors mostly brushed aside the decline in claims and March import prices. Equity prices were little changed, though some technology stocks fell after reports of lower personal-computer shipments.

The latest claims report might dampen worries, at least temporarily, of further deterioration in the labor market, said economist Andrew Grantham of CIBC World Markets.

Evidence of a slower pace of hiring has been visible in recent surveys of businesses as well as the critical monthly U.S. employment report that showed a meager 88,000 increase in new jobs in March. Until last month’s stumble, the economy had been adding an average of more than 200,000 jobs a month since the end of last fall.

Applicants wait to enter a job fair on June 11, 2012 in New York City. Getty Images

Claims can be particularly jumpy around Easter and spring break. The holiday leads to delays in the filing and processing of claims while some school workers such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers file for temporary benefits during the week students are off.

These events make it harder for government statisticians to adjust claims at this time of year, Labor officials say. Sometimes the adjustment process can even exaggerate the rise or decline in claims at the end of March and the beginning of April.

The four-week average of claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, rose by 3,000 to 358,000 to mark a two-month high. Yet the number should decline in the next few weeks.

In the week ended March 23, meanwhile, continuing claims declined by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.08 million.

Continuing claims reflect the number of people who already receive regular unemployment benefits. Most states typically offer 26 weeks of unemployment pay.