The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in four years.

The Labor Department reported that in the week ending July 7, initial jobless claims fell by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, from the previous week’s revised figure of 376,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending June 30, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The demand for new cars kept auto factories that typically shut down in the summer open for production said a Labor Department economist to the Wall Street Journal.

The unemployment rate remained at 8.2%.