US weekly jobless claims increase marginally amid low layoffs

WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) - The ‌number of Americans ​filing ​claims for unemployment benefits increased marginally last week amid relatively low layoffs, despite the dragging war with Iran.

Initial claims for state ‌unemployment benefits rose 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for ⁠the week ended May 23, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters ‌had forecast 211,000 claims for ‌the latest week. Claims have been tucked in a 190,000-230,000 range this year.

Outside high-profile job cuts by technology firms related to artificial intelligence, layoffs ​have remained generally low, despite uncertainty, first from last year's sweeping import tariffs and now the U.S-Israel war with Iran. The conflict has ⁠shut off the Strait of Hormuz, boosting commodity prices, including oil and fertilizers, and driving up ​inflation.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 15,000 to ​a seasonally adjusted 1.786 million during the ‌week ended May 16, the claims report showed. The so-called continuing claims covered the period during which the government ⁠surveyed households for May's unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 4.3% in May. Continuing claims have dropped from last year's lofty levels, though ⁠some of the decline is likely due to people exhausting their eligibility for benefits, ​limited to 26 weeks in most states.

They also do not capture young unemployed Americans, who typically have no or a limited work history, disqualifying them from benefits. College graduates ‌are entering a tough labor market. Some of last year's graduates remain unemployed.

A Conference Board survey on Tuesday ‌showed households' perceptions of the labor market were mixed this month, with the share ⁠viewing jobs as "plentiful" falling to ‌the lowest level since ​February 2021. But the share reporting that jobs were "hard to get" hit a seven-month low.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by ‌Chizu Nomiyama)

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