The number of Americans applying for jobless aid fell modestly last week as lay-offs remained in the same historically low range of recent years.

US applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 13 dropped by 4,000 to 226,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. That's in line with the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of US lay-offs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.