Washington: Far fewer Americans are applying for unemployment benefits as the year ends, raising hopes for a healthier job market in 2011. Applications are at their lowest level since July 2008, the Labor Department says. They fell to 388,000 in the week ending December 25, bringing the four-week average to 414,000. Until mid-October, the four-week average had been stuck above 450,000 most of the year. Economists say the number of people applying for unemployment benefits predicts where the job market will go over the next few months so much so that they use this data to help forecast economic growth. "We're starting to see a pickup in job growth," says Conference Board Economist Kenneth Goldstein. "We may even get to a point, conceivably by spring, where the consumer is going to say that it no longer feels like we're still in a recession.