La Jornada: Weekly applications for unemployment aid fall in the United States

Washington. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, signaling labor market resilience and giving the Federal Reserve room to focus on rising inflation.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ending May 16, the Labor Department reported. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast 210,000 applications for last week.

Although economists expect applications to increase in the summer due to a seasonal peculiarity, the labor market remains in a situation of stagnation.

Financial markets expect the Federal Reserve to keep its interest rate in the 3.5-3.75 percent range through next year.

Minutes from the central bank’s April 28-29 meeting, released last Wednesday, revealed that concerns about the spike in inflation caused by the war with Iran intensified last month, with a growing number of officials saying the Fed should lay the groundwork for a rate hike.

Last week’s claims data covered the period during which the government held discussions with businesses to calculate the nonfarm payrolls component of the May employment report. Payrolls increased by 115 thousand jobs in April, after growing by 185 thousand in March.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after the first week of aid, an indicator of hiring, increased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.78 million during the week ending May 9, according to the report.