The number of people signing up for U.S. unemployment financial aid dropped to a four-year low last week.

Thursday's report from the Labor Department shows first-time jobless claims fell 26,000 to a nationwide total of 350,000.

Layoffs usually rise at this time of year as auto companies shut down for a few weeks to re-tool to produce new car models for next year.

But relatively strong sales mean some car companies are shortening their shutdowns to keep up with improved demand.

The head of a company that helps match job seekers and companies that have jobs to fill says many of the companies he works with are continuing their recovery from the recession.

Rich Milgram, the CEO of “Beyond-dot-com,” says he thinks the U.S. economy is poised for growth.

“I'm looking forward to steady growth, and good growth, over the next several months and into next year. ”

Milgram says job seekers were scarred by the down-turn and some companies are having trouble replacing the people they laid off during the recession.

“Some companies are hiring in areas that job seekers flew away from. The housing market, epically commercial real estate, was so bad for a significant period of time that the skilled labor in those areas jumped ship to some other career and are not coming back. And there was no reason to go learn that trade for the past two years for many people because people were not hiring. ”

Milgram spoke to VOA from Philadelphia.