The number of people filing initial applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits rebounded from a 45-year low last week, but jobless claims still remain low as the labor market continues to tighten, the government reported Thursday. The Labor Department said claims increased 17,000 to 233,000. Claims fell to 216,000 the previous week, the lowest level since January 1973, when the labor force was much smaller. Last week marked the 151st consecutive week that jobless claims remained below 300,000, a level associated with a healthy labor market. It is the longest such streak since 1970. The four-week moving average of jobless claims—a better gauge of labor-market trends because it smoothes weekly volatility—fell 3,500 to 240,000. The report also showed the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell 28,000 to 1.94 million last week. The economy is near full employment, with the unemployment rate at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent. The jobless rate declined 0.7 percentage point in 2017, and economists expect it to reach 3.5 percent by the end of this year, which could spark faster wage growth as companies compete for workers. Strong wage inflation likely would prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to lift interest rates more aggressively than currently expected. The central bank has forecast three rate increases this year. It increased borrowing costs three times in 2017.