The Labor Department announced on Thursday that 298,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits the week ending Aug. 23, a thousand fewer than the previous week.

The total number of people claiming unemployment benefits in all programs for the week ending Aug. 9 was 2.46 million, a decrease of just over 50,000 from the previous week. A year ago the claim rate was 4.46 million.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week were in Georgia (+874), Alabama (+575), Connecticut (+467), Hawaii (+387) and Iowa (+131), with the largest decreases in California (-8,771), Florida (-1,462), Illinois (-1,442), Michigan (-1,401) and Texas (-1,050).

"Ours is an economy driven by consumer demand. When we give working people a raise, they pump it right back into the economy, spending it on goods and services in their communities. That helps more businesses grow, which creates more jobs," Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez said in an opinion column on Cleveland.com

A Displaced Workers Summary for 2011-2013 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows in January 2014, 61 percent of workers displaced during the period were reemployed, out of a total of 9.5 million. The report described this period as one of employment growth. During the last survey from 2009-11, 12.9 million workers were displaced.

The survey is conducted biennially as a supplement to the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of households that is the primary source of information on the nation's labor force.

In 2014, the re-employment rates for long-tenured displaced Latinos (65 percent), whites (62 percent) and blacks (55 percent) were higher than in January 2012. The re-employment rate for Asians, at 59 percent, changed the least between the two surveys.

The slight dip in those claiming could mean employers are holding onto their workers, suggests more confidence in the economy and could lead to a step up in hiring. The National Association of Realtors said more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in July.

But what types of jobs are people being hired for? An analysis in the Los Angeles Times found that while there has been a recovery of the jobs lost in the recession, "the new jobs pay an average of 23 percent less than the ones lost in the downturn." The "new jobs" are in lower-wage industries -- hospitality and health care -- and not in high-paying manufacturing and construction.

"The connection between consumer spending and economic growth isn't lost on savvy job creators. 'I'm already wealthy,' one CEO candidly told me, 'and I've practically run out of things to buy. More cash for me won't give the economy a shot in the arm. We need to make sure the people who will spend more money have more money,'" Perez said.

"Forward-looking employers like him are rejecting the false choice that says you can accommodate either your shareholders or your employees. The fact is, you can serve both. Research shows that immediately after Fortune 500 companies announced new work-life balance initiatives, their stock prices increased. Clearly, the markets consider policies like paid family leave to be profitable investments."

Perez added that 200,000 jobs have been created for the last six consecutive months, the first time since 1997. He recognizes there are challenges, though, with plenty of people working harder and still falling further behind.