WASHINGTON – The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments declined last week, indicating the labor market recovery is gaining traction.

Applications for jobless benefits decreased 15,000 in the week ended Feb. 4 to 358,000, Labor Department figures showed Thursday. Economists forecast 370,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure of claims, declined to 366,250, the lowest since April 26, 2008.

The easing of dismissals is moving in tandem with a drop in the unemployment rate, which fell in January to a three-year low of 8.3 percent. Job creation also accelerated last month, showing the world’s largest economy is making headway in restoring the 8.3 million jobs lost during the 2007-09 recession.

“The recent positive momentum over the past two months is being sustained,” said Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York, who projected 360,000 claims. “If we stay within this range, then we should see employment growth pick up.”

A separate report Thursday said wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles sharply in December although the gains are expected to slow in coming months, a development that could curb overall economic growth.

The Commerce Department says wholesale businesses boosted inventories by 1 percent in December after no increase in November. The rise came as sales rose 1.3 percent, the best showing in nine months and more than double the 0.5 percent November sales gain.

The gain pushed stockpiles to $473.9 billion, 22.5 percent above their 2009 lows.

Strong inventory growth was a major factor boosting growth in the final three months of the year, but this trend is expected to slow in the early part of this year.

That is a major reason economists are looking for slower overall economic growth in the current January-March period.