1 The number of newly laid-off Americans filing claims for jobless benefits edged up by 1,000 last week, the first advance in three weeks, but remained at a level that analysts say marks a healthy job market.
2 The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 326,000, up from 325,000 a week earlier.
3 It was the first increase since claims shot up by 16,000 during the week ended Jan. 7. Analysts had said the earlier jump reflected difficulties in adjustments for seasonal variations.
4 These analysts had predicted claims would drop back to about 325,000, where they have ranged since last summer. This level, they contend, reflects a strong job market.
5 Many analysts predict that 225,000 jobs were created in January following the addition of 256,000 new jobs in December. The December growth helped push the jobless rate to 5.4 percent, lowest since July 1990. The department releases the January employment report on Friday.
6 The closely-watched four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims totaled 336,000, down from 339,000 during the period ended Jan. 21 and the lowest since 334,500 during the period ended Jan. 7.
7 Analysts prefer to track the four-week average because it smooths out the spikes in the more volatile weekly reports.

These analysts had predicted claims would drop back to about 325 , 000 , where they have ranged since last summer . This level , they contend , reflects a strong job market .
had predicted
What information did they have to support that?