The number of Americans signing up for unemployment compensation dropped by 12,000 last week.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department says a total of 365,000 newly-laid off workers requested assistance nationwide.

Some economists say that's a little higher than the number of layoffs seen in a healthy job market.

Friday, we will learn more about the job market when government experts publish the unemployment rate for August.

Economists surveyed by news agencies say they expect the jobless rate to stay steady at 8.3 percent.

Friday's data is also expected to show the economy had a net gain of 127,000 jobs nationwide, less than the previous month.