Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week after a short-term spike coinciding with spring recess and the Easter holiday at the end of April.

Initial claims decreased by 13,000 to 228,000 in the week ended May 3. That was roughly in line with the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, also fell, to 1.88 million, in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

Jobless claims have remained largely subdued, indicating low levels of layoffs despite increased economic uncertainty amid tariffs and the ripple effects from the Trump administration’s actions to shrink the federal government.

Though tariffs could lead to higher unemployment and inflation, the labor market remains solid, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday after central bankers held interest rates unchanged.

“People are feeling stress and concern. But unemployment hasn’t gone up, job creation is fine, wages are in good shape,” Powell said. “Initial claims for unemployment are not increasing in any kind of impressive way. So, the economy itself is still in solid shape.”

The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out volatility, was little changed.

Before adjusting for seasonal factors, initial claims fell last week. A decline in New York filings accounted for most of the overall decrease. That state had seen a surge in the previous period around spring recess when some school workers, including bus drivers and janitors, can apply for benefits.