Jobless claims increased to 225,000 in the week that ended on May 30, hitting the highest level since February.
The figure exceeded expectations from economists surveyed by Reuters, which stood at 213,000.
Data released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a 13,000 increase compared to the prior week.
Bloomberg noted that the reading may have been influenced by seasonal distortions related to Memorial Day and the beginning of summer breaks in some school districts.
Data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas also showed employers announced over 97,000 layoffs last month, a 16% increase compared to April. The technology sector accounted for almost 39% of the layoffs.
At the same time, payrolls exceeded expectations last month, according to the latest ADP report. Concretely, companies added 122,000 workers last month, above the 110,000 expected by analysts. It was the strongest gain since January 2025.
CNBC noted that gains were more broad-based than in previous months, when they were concentrated in the healthcare sector.
Last month, education and health services led with 57,000 new jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities added 36,000 roles, while professional and business services gained 11,000. Construction, leisure and hospitality also rose by 8,000 each.
"Hiring was more broad-based in May than we've seen in the last few years," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. "The labor market continues to show sustained momentum going into the summer hiring season."
Elsewhere, the report noted that companies with fewer than 50 employees hired 67,000 roles, while those with 500 or more added some 40,000. Middle-sized companies added the rest.
Another report showed that U.S. job openings rose to their highest level in nearly two years in April, a surprising sign of resilience in the labor market even as employers continued to show caution in the actual hiring of new employees.
The number of available jobs jumped by 731,000 to 7.618 million on the last day of April, the highest level since May 2024, according to the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected 6.88 million openings, making the increase much stronger than the forecast consensus.
On one hand, employers appeared to be advertising more positions, suggesting that demand for workers has not collapsed despite months of uncertainty over tariffs, inflation, geopolitical pressure, and the impact of artificial intelligence.
On the other hand, hiring fell sharply, showing that many companies may still be reluctant to bring new workers onto their payrolls. Hiring dropped by 419,000 roles to 5.116 million in April, while the hiring rate fell to 3.2% from 3.5% in March. Layoffs also declined, falling by 192,000 to 1.692 million, with the layoff rate easing to 1.1% from 1.2%.
