Fewer American workers filed claims for jobless benefits last week, signaling that the worst phase of the employment slump has passed.

Initial applications for unemployment insurance fell by 4,000 to 621,000 in the week ended May 30, in line with forecasts, figures from the Labor Department showed yesterday in Washington.

The claims report also showed the number of people collecting unemployment insurance fell to 6.74 million in the week ended May 23 from 6.75 million the prior week.

It was the first decrease in almost five months, breaking a string of 17 consecutive records.