WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 last week, driving down the four-week average to its lowest level in five years. The drop is a positive sign ahead of today's report on February job growth.

Applications for benefits fell 7,000 in the week ended March 2, the Labor Department said Thursday. And the four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 348,750. That's the lowest since March 2008, just a few months into the Great Recession.

Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. When they fall, it suggests that companies are shedding fewer jobs. More hiring may follow.

The decline adds to other evidence that hiring may have been better last month than economists forecast. Analysts predict that employers added 152,000 jobs, according to a survey by FactSet. That's about the same as in January. The unemployment rate is projected to fall to 7.8 percent from 7.9 percent.

"The improvement is still gradual, but at least things are moving in the right direction," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

The economy generated an average of 200,000 jobs a month from November through January. That was up from about 150,000 in the previous three months. In January they added 157,000.

Several reports this week suggest hiring remained healthy last month. Payroll services provider ADP said Wednesday that businesses added 198,000 jobs in February,

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above most analysts' expectations. And January's hiring was revised higher by 23,000 to 215,000.