The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased modestly last week and private employers hired more workers than expected in May, pointing to continued labor market tightness that could push the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated, Reuters reported. The labor market is slowing only marginally, keeping a much feared recession at bay for now, despite 500 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the U.S. central bank since March 2022, when the Fed embarked on its fastest monetary policy tightening campaign since the 1980s to tame inflation. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ended May 27, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week. Unadjusted claims increased by 5,296 to 207,941 last week, with notable rises in New York, Ohio and Illinois. Only 58 claims were filed in Massachusetts, which had been swamped by fraudulent applications in recent weeks.
