Applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell last week as the labor market remains sturdy ahead of an expected purge of federal government employees.

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell by 21,000 to 221,000 for the week ending March 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's significantly fewer than the 236,000 new applications analysts expected.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, which have remained mostly in a range between 200,000 and 250,000 for years.

The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, inched up by 250 to 224,250.

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of Feb. 22 rose by 42,000 to 1.9 million.