Jobless claims dropped to 222,000 this week, which is the lowest level seen in 44 years, the Washington Examiner reported.

Claims for unemployment benefits were expected to drop to 240,000 but dropped even further to 222,000.

"Low jobless claims are a good sign," the article says. "They suggest that layoffs are infrequent and accordingly that net job growth is strong. Because the claims numbers are aggregated from state unemployment agencies weekly, they are valued by investors and government official as a high-frequency gauge of the economy's health."

There are 1.89 million Americans receiving benefits, which is also the lowest level seen in 44 years.

"Thursday's numbers are impressive given the much larger size of the labor force today compared to 1973," the Examiner observes. "In March of that year, with Nixon as president, the workforce stood at just under 89 million. Today, it's 161 million."

"With today's labor force, economists reckon that new claims below the 300,000 indicate that unemployment will stay steady or fall," the article continues. "At 4.2 percent in September, unemployment is already as low as it has been since the last days of the dotcom bubble."