In a method for generating a physical layer (PHY) data unit for transmission via a communication channel, a plurality of information bits to be included in the PHY data unit is received. A number of padding bits that need to be added to the information bits such that the information bits, after having been encoded, fill an integer number of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols is determined. The number of padding bits is added to the information bits prior to encoding and the information bits are parsed to a number of encoders. The information bits are encoded to generate coded data bits. A last block of the data unit is encoded differently from the previous blocks. The PHY data unit to include the coded data bits is generated.