WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since May, though the pace of applications remains at a level consistent with steady hiring. The four-week average has remained near or below 300,000 since September, a historically low level that typically signals healthy job gains. More Americans are earning paychecks, and gas prices have plummeted from last summer, thereby boosting consumers' buying power. Kentucky said applications for unemployment benefits in that state rose nearly 3,000 in the week that ended Feb.