States with the biggest changes in jobless aid applications, and some reasons, at a glance

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 298,000, a low level that signals employers are cutting few jobs and hiring are likely to remain strong.

Here are the states with the biggest decreases in applications. No state reported an increase of more than 1,000. The data is for the week that ended August 16, one week behind the national figures:

States with the biggest decreases:

California: Down 8,771, no reason given.

Florida: Down 1,462, due to fewer layoffs in farming, manufacturing, retail and services.