WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)—The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits jumped by 20,000 to 243,000 in early March, but layoffs remained near a 45-year low.

Economists polled by MarketWatch has expected initial jobless claims to total 238,000 in the seven days stretching from Feb. 26 to March 4.

Just a week earlier, new claims had fallen to the lowest level since March 1973. And they’ve come under the key 300,000 threshold for 105 straight weeks, the second longest streak since the mid-1960s.

The four-week average of initial claims, meanwhile, rose by 2,250 to 236,500, the government said Thursday. The monthly average offers a more stable look at the short-term trend in layoffs.

The U.S. labor market is the healthiest in years, aided by steady if unspectacular economic growth that’s pushed the unemployment rate below 5%. Companies are even finding it hard to recruit enough skilled workers.

On Friday, the government is expected to report another robust gain in job creation in February. Economists polled by MarketWatch predict a 210,000 increase.

Continuing jobless claims dropped by 6,000 to 2.06 million in the week ended Feb. 25. These claims, reported with a one-week delay, reflect the number of people already collecting unemployment checks.