The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits tumbled once again last week, coming in well below analyst expectations.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits were down by 14,000 to 218,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts had forecast 235,000 initial claims for the week ending Sept. 20.

The report followed a decline in claims last week by 33,000 for the week ending Sept. 13.

Continuing claims, were largely unchanged, falling 2,000 to 1.926 million. The 4-week moving average was 237,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average. That puts the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate at 1.3%, which is unchanged from last week.

The better-than-expected numbers could cool concerns at the Federal Reserve about the state of the labor market. Rising layoffs have been cited by Fed officials as a potential problem area, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, earlier in the week, saying there is “no risk-free path” for the central bank as it factors risks from both the labor market and inflation.

The good news from the Labor Department did not give markets a boost, however. Futures for the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P were all lower in pre-market hours following the report. The 10-year Treasury jumped a small amount.

Improving job numbers may diminish the odds of upcoming rate cuts. After the Federal Open Market Committee met last week, lowering rates by a quarter point to a range of 4%-4.25%, it said part of the reason it made that move was because “downside risks to employment have risen.”