Washington ? The number of American workers signing up for jobless benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in five months, a fresh dose of good news for the economy’s revival.

For the work week ending July 19, new applications for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 29,000 to 386,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It marked the second week in a row that claims went down and represented the first time since the week ending Feb. 8 that claims dipped below 400,000, a level associated with a weak job market.

The claims figures were better than economists were expecting; they were forecasting claims to rise slightly.

Although claims tend to swing widely in July, distorted by temporary plant closings, other figures in the report also suggested that the pace of layoffs was stabilizing.

The more stable, four-week moving average of jobless claims, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, fell by a solid 5,500 last week to 419,250, the lowest level since the work week ending March 8.

And the number of unemployed Americans collecting jobless benefits for more than a week declined by 24,000 to a three-month low of 3.6 million for the work week ending July 12, the most recent period for which that information is available.

While the most recent snapshot of the labor market was encouraging, economists say that even if companies slow the speed at which they lay off workers, they probably won’t be in a mood to go on a hiring spree.

Companies — wanting profits to improve — are still reluctant to make big capital spending investments and increase their work forces, the biggest factors restraining the economy’s ability to get back to full throttle.

Even if the economy picks up momentum in the second half of this year, the nation’s jobless rate, now at a nine-year high of 6.4 percent, could hover in that range or creep higher in coming months, economists say. Job growth probably won’t be strong enough to accommodate all the additional job seekers who would enter the market, attracted by an improved climate.

Consumers are the main force keeping the economy going.

Throughout the economic slump, low mortgage rates, a refinancing frenzy and solid appreciation in home values over the past few years have spurred consumer spending, helping to offset the potentially negative force of a stagnant job market.

However, in recent weeks, mortgage rates have climbed, slowing refinancing activity a bit.