Fewer people were receiving unemployment benefits in the beginning of June than at anytime in the past 44 years, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

Altogether, 1.7 million people received benefits during the week, the fewest since December of 1973, when Richard Nixon was president and there were far fewer workers at risk of losing their jobs.

Unemployment insurance is available for up to 26 weeks in most states. The total numbers of people receiving benefits have repeatedly hit multigenerational lows in recent months.

As for first-time claims, Thursday's report showed that new claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell 4,000 to 218,000 in the first full week of June.

Forecasters had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000, staying near the very low levels that have accompanied the lowest unemployment levels in a generation.

Low claims are a sign that there are few layoffs, and accordingly that job creation is going to remain strong.

Unemployment, at 3.8 percent, i s already as low as it has been since 1969. The unemployment insurance data suggests it is going to keep falling even lower.

The historically low unemployment rate has not yet translated into the strong wage gains that the Trump administration and economists have hoped for. But most expect that eventually the strong labor market will translate to higher pay.

"Over time, when labor markets are strong and companies are hiring, we should see higher wages," Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said at a press conference Wednesday.

Thursday's report also contained a smaller nugget of good news: For the first time since hurricanes struck last summer, the news release did not indicate that the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are having trouble collecting applications for unemployment insurance.

