US initial unemployment claims fall, payroll growth slows in May

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell again last week, according to the Labor Department, beating market expectations for a reading of 210,000.

In the week ended 28 May, new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 11,000 to 200,000, down from the previous week's revised level of 211,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average came to 206,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average, with the previous week's average revised up by 250 from 206,750 to 207,000.

Elsewhere, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 0.9% for the week ended 21 May, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending 21 May was 1.30m, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised level to the lowest level for insured unemployment since 27 December 1969.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, initial claims decreased by 2,921 from the previous week to 182,327, with notable declines in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida, while the biggest increases were seen in California, Mississippi, and New York.

Payroll growth in the US appeared to have slowed in May, according to a separate report from Automatic Data Processing, with US private businesses hiring 128,000 in May, the lowest number seen since 2020 and well below forecasts for a reading of 300,000.

ADP said the services sector added 104,000 jobs last month, led by education and health, and professional and business, while the information sector shed 2,000 jobs. Large companies added 122,000 jobs, while midsized firms added 97,000 and small companies shed 91,000 jobs.

Year-to-date, US private businesses have added 1.69m payrolls.