The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a six-month low last week as layoffs remain at relatively healthy levels.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell 4,000 to 217,000 in the week of Nov. 9. That’s less than analysts’ forecast of 225,000.

The four-week average of weekly claims, which smooths out some of the weekly ups and downs, fell 6,250 to 221,000.

Weekly jobless claims are considered representative of U.S. layoffs in a given week.

Massachusetts reported 6,510 initial “advance” claims for unemployment insurance last week.

In response to weaker employment data and lower consumer prices, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point in September and by another quarter point last week.

The central bank is shifting its focus from taming inflation to propping up the labor market in an attempt to achieve a rare “soft landing,” where it reduces inflation without triggering a recession.

September’s half-point rate cut was the Fed’s first rate cut in four years, following a series of hikes starting in 2022 that pushed the federal funds rate to a two-decade high of 5.3 percent .

Despite a slight pick-up in October, inflation has retreated steadily over the past two years, moving closer to the Fed’s 2 percent target and leading Chairman Jerome Powell to recently say it was largely under control.

Two weeks ago, the government reported that an inflation gauge closely watched by the Fed fell to its lowest level in three and a half years.

In the first four months of 2024, claims for jobless benefits averaged just 213,000 a week before picking up in May. They hit 250,000 in late July, supporting the idea that high interest rates have finally cooled a red-hot U.S. labor market.

The U.S. economy added 12,000 jobs in October, though economists pointed to recent strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off the payroll.

The Labor Department reported in August that the US economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 to March this year than originally reported. The revised total was also seen as evidence that the labor market has been slowing steadily, forcing the Fed to start cutting interest rates.

Continuing the claims, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits fell to 1.87 million in the week of Nov. 2, in line with analysts’ expectations.

Dana Gerber of the Globe staff contributed to this report.