America In Focus: US job market is rebounding, but economic frustration persists

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The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and rising costs are impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

U.S. employers added a surprising 172,000 jobs in May as the labor market continued to show resilience in the face of rising costs from the Iran war.

The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was down slightly last month from a revised 179,000 in April. The unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.3%

Hiring has bounced back this year from a miserable 2025, showing unexpected strength in the face of economic uncertainty and painfully high energy prices caused by the Iran war.

Unemployment remained at a low 4.3% in May.

U.S. job openings jumped in April, which at some level suggests Americans grew more comfortable about leaving a job to find a better paying one.

U.S. employers posted 7.6 million job vacancies in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, up from 6.9 million in March and the most since May 2024. Economists had forecast just 6.8 million openings.

The department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that layoffs fell but so did the number of Americans quitting their jobs. And the report’s measure of gross hiring also dropped in April, suggesting that companies are not laying off many people, but also are not hiring aggressively.

The number of Americans filing for jobless aid hit their highest level in four months last week, though weekly statistics for hiring can be very volatile.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 30 increased by 13,000 to 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since early February, before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, but still a historically low level. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 211,000 new applications.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate eased this week from its highest level in nine months, somewhat of a relief for prospective homebuyers.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.48% from 6.53% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. The average rate remains below 6.85%, where it was a year ago, but twice what they were during the pandemic.

When mortgage rates decline they give homebuyers more purchasing power.

Rates have been mostly trending higher since the war with Iran began, disrupting the passage of tankers ferrying crude oil from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. That’s sent oil prices sharply higher — a key driver of inflation.