Weekly jobless claims increase 12,000 to 248,000
Continuing claims drop 13,000 to 1.720 million
Private payrolls jump 497,000 in June
Job openings decline 496,000 to 9.824 million in May

WASHINGTON, July 6 Reuters The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, while private payrolls surged in June, suggesting that the labor market remained on solid ground despite growing risks of a recession.

The reports on Thursday, which also suggested that laidoff workers were experiencing shorter spells of unemployment, made it more likely that the Federal Reserve would resume raising interest rates this month after pausing in June.

Though job openings fell to a twoyear low in May, they remained well above their prepandemic levels, with 1.6 vacancies for every unemployment person. More people are quitting their jobs, a sign of confidence in the labor market.

The data sketched an upbeat picture of the labor market ahead of the release of the closely watched employment report for June on Friday. They also raised the prospects of the economy skirting the much dreaded downturn later this year.

Demand for new hires remains elevated and employers are still holding onto the workers they have, said Nick Bunker, research director at Indeed Hiring Lab. The data continue to make a softlanding scenario increasingly likely.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000 for the week ended…