More Americans apply for unemployment benefits

More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, adding to evidence that the job market is weakening. The Labor Department says applications rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week. It was the second increase in three weeks and the biggest jump in a month. Applications have been above 400,000 for 11 straight weeks. Applications dipped below 400,000 in February and stayed below that threshold for seven of the following nine weeks; they fell as low as 375,000, a level that signals sustainable job growth. But applications surged in April to an eight-month high of 478,000 and have shown only modest reductions since that time. Companies pulled back on hiring in the spring in the face of higher gas and food prices. That has cut into consumer spending on other discretionary items, such as furniture and appliances, which boosts economic growth. Employers added 54,000 net new jobs in May, a rate much slower than the average gain of 220,000 per month in the previous three months. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1% from 9% in April. The economy needs to generate at least 125,000 jobs per month just to keep up with population growth. And at least twice that many jobs are needed to bring down the unemployment rate.