U.S. jobless claims largely unchanged

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was mostly unchanged last week, evidence that the weak U.S. economy is struggling to generate jobs. Unemployment benefit applications ticked down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000, the Labor Department says. Applications have topped 400,000 for 12 straight weeks. Applications had fallen in February to 375,000, a level that signals sustainable job growth. They stayed below 400,000 for seven of nine weeks. But applications then surged to an eight-month high of 478,000 in April and have shown only modest improvement since that time. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, has been stuck at about 426,000 for a month. Employers added only 54,000 net new jobs in May, much slower than the average gain of 220,000 per month in the previous three months. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1%.