WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to moderate job growth despite slowing economic activity.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was in line with economists' expectations.

Claims have been volatile in recent weeks, but there is little in the numbers to suggest a shift in the moderate pace of job gains, even though the broader economy is struggling under the weight of higher taxes and deep government spending cuts.

Still, the improvement in labor market conditions lacks enough vigor to compel the Federal Reserve to scale back its expansive monetary stimulus.

The Fed's policy-setting committee meets June 18-19. With data ranging from manufacturing to consumer spending showing the economy hit a soft patch early in the second quarter, it is unlikely the U.S. central bank will announce a tapering of the $85 billion in bonds it is buying each month at that meeting.

"The U.S. labor market is still improving steadily, just not at a strong enough pace to warrant Fed tapering yet," said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 4,500 to 352,500.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data as investors shifted focus to the euro zone, where the European Central Bank kept its main interest rate steady at a record low. Investors also moved to the sidelines ahead of Friday's release of the government's closely watched employment report for May.

LAYOFFS ABATING

Last week's claims data has no bearing on the employment report, given that it falls outside of the survey period for the monthly jobs tally.

Employers are forecast to have added 170,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, slightly up from April's 165,000 count, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is seen holding at an almost 4-1/2 year low of 7.5 percent.

There is a risk, however, that job gains could have been less than expected in May.

Reports from the Institute for Supply Management showed a measure of employment in the services sector hit a 10-month low in May, while a gauge of factory jobs slipped a bit.

In addition, the ADP National Employment Report showed private hiring in May fell well below expectations.

Despite the slowdown in growth momentum, companies are not responding by reducing their workforces. There is still no sign of layoffs related to the deep government spending cuts.

In a separate report, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell in May for a third straight month.

Employers announced 36,398 job cuts last month, down 4.5 percent from April. Layoffs fell 41.2 percent from a year ago.

"So far, the threat of massive job cuts related to federal spending cuts has failed to materialize", said John Challenger, the firm's chief executive officer.

The steady labor market improvement, coupled with rising house and share prices, is helping to support retail sales.

Major U.S. retail chains including Costco Wholesale Corp and Victoria's Secret reported sales increases for May that were generally in line with Wall Street's expectations, other data showed.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

The Jascon-4 capsized early on Sunday due to "heavy ocean swells" while the vessel was "performing towing operations" at a mooring point around 30 kilometres off oil-producing Delta state, Chevron's Nigeria unit said on Sunday.

"Unfortunately all twelve crew members are still missing," a spokeswoman for the ship's owner West African Ventures said.

"Rescue operations involving sea divers are still ongoing and a full investigation into the incident is taking place," she said. West African Ventures is owned by Sea Trucks Group.

Chevron Nigeria declined to give an update.

Chevron's operates offshore and onshore joint ventures with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp and spends around $3 billion a year on its Nigerian operations, the company says.

The U.S. energy firm's 2012 net daily production from Nigeria was 238,000 barrels of crude oil, 165 million cubic feet of natural gas and 4,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas.

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Los Angeles, said the warrants were served at about 3 p.m. Six to eight agents left the Capitol more than six hours later carrying at least a half-dozen boxes and what appeared to be a computer hard drive.

She would not disclose the target of the search warrants, but Senate Chief Sergeant-at-Arms Tony Beard told The Associated Press it was Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat from the Los Angeles County city of Montebello.

"It's a federal search warrant served on Sen. Calderon's office. It's a sealed search warrant. I don't know what it relates to," Beard said.

He said Calderon was not present during the search.

Calderon did not return a message left on his cellphone. His spokesman, Rocky Rushing, said he could not comment and referred calls to Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos.

"I have a sense that they're on a witch hunt," Geragos said in a telephone interview. "My client refused to read their script and so this is what resulted....My client has done absolutely nothing wrong."

He said he does not know what the FBI is investigating or if others also are targets of the investigation.

He contended the Justice Department is targeting his client, a Democrat, as "a bait and switch" to mute congressional Republicans' outcry over recent disclosures, including that the department obtained telephone records from AP reporters and editors and private emails from a Fox News correspondent.

Beard told reporters who gathered outside Calderon's office Tuesday night that the office of the Latino Legislative Caucus, which is across the street from the Capitol in the Legislative Office Building, also was searched. A spokeswoman for the caucus, Lizette Mata, did not return telephone and email messages.

Sacramento defense attorney William Portanova entered and left the Capitol office during the search. He told the AP he was retained to represent the interests of the Senate as a whole, not any particular lawmaker.

"They're 100 percent cooperative with any investigation," Portanova said late Tuesday.

The warrants were being served as lawmakers who are part of the 23-member Latino caucus held an event with reporters at the Capitol to discuss the group's legislative priorities.

Tuesday's raid at the Capitol recalled the so-called "Shrimpscam" investigation in 1985, in which federal agents went undercover and posed as representatives of a phony shrimp-processing company. Five lawmakers went to prison for taking bribes in the FBI sting operation.

Eimiller said the current investigation is being led by federal authorities in Southern California, where Calderon is based, but the search warrants were issued in U.S. District Court in Sacramento and are under seal.

She said the search was conducted to investigate "allegations of criminal activity."

"This is an ongoing investigation," she said. "Searches are typically done in the early stages of an investigation, so it would be premature to say that charges will be filed."

In 2009, the state's political watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, closed an investigation into Calderon's three Assembly campaign committees without sanctions.

The commission opened an investigation after receiving allegations that Calderon had used campaign money for personal purposes while seeking re-election to the Assembly in 2003 and 2004, according to agency records. A letter to Calderon said the agency found nothing on its face to show the expenses were made for "anything other than a political, legislative or governmental purpose."

Calderon terminated his legal defense fund in 2009.

The lawmaker is part of a powerful Southern California political dynasty. His two brothers served in the state Legislature and his nephew, Ian Calderon, was elected to the Assembly last year.

He is known as a moderate, business-friendly Democrat. After his election to the Assembly in 2002, he was a member of the Assembly Moderate Caucus.

Calderon played a key role last year in brokering an agreement that led to new state laws governing foreclosures that went beyond the national mortgage settlement with the nation's five largest banks.

He originally balked at proposals by Attorney General Kamala Harris that he thought would do too much harm to the lending industry. He then cast a key vote in an unusual conference committee that led to the compromise legislation becoming law.

He also has promoted regulatory reform and Hollywood tax credits, among legislative initiatives reflecting his business-oriented interests. Among other legislation this year, Calderon is carrying a bill that would require education officials to create lesson plans about violence in American culture as a way to respond to mass shootings.

Calderon also drew mention last year in an Associated Press story about lawmakers who sought upgrades to their state-provided vehicles shortly before buying them for personal use.

He special-ordered "2 vogue type wheel center caps" for $80 for his 2006 Cadillac, among other maintenance that cost taxpayers more than $500. Rushing, Calderon's spokesman, said at the time that the spending was all for necessary or scheduled maintenance.

___

Associated Press writers Laura Olson and Juliet Williams and AP photographer Rich Pedroncelli contributed to this report.

[More from BGR: ]

This article was

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Holder's invitation/olive branch was extended to Washington representatives of various media outlets indone to his reputation and agency. Revelations that the Department of Justice had subpoenaed a broad swath ofand issued a search warrant naming a Fox News reporter, James Rosen, asmet with fierce criticism from the media. And from the president's Republican opposition, of course; Senator Ted Cruz of Texas yesterday deemed the Rosen accusation to beand "part and parcel of a pattern of this administration of not respecting the Bill of Rights."

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Holder's request for an off-the-record meeting — intended to discuss revisions to Justice's media investigation policies, perhaps assuaging those Bill of Rights concerns — . The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone polled companies and : The New York Times, the Associated Press, the Huffington Post, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, Reuters, CBS News, and McClatchy. With a somewhat smaller group — Politico, the Washington Post, Daily News, New Yorker, and the Wall Street Journal — the meeting went on.

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And, thanks to that Politico attendee, we have a clear sense of what happened. The organization's media reporter, Dylan Byers, reports on the discussion in

But Holder stopped short of offering any concrete changes to the guidelines.

"Holder also indicated," Byers later continues, in his story about the off-the-record meeting, "that the decision to label Fox News reporter James Rosen as an “aider and abettor” in a criminal investigation wasn’t necessary." 

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The story also quotes Byers' boss, the Politico guy in the room.

And then another "journalist at the meeting," who said that the group "discussed trying to revise [existing] language so that reporters don’t need to be defined as co-conspirators in order to execute search warrants."

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If this seems like a fairly loose definition of "off-the-record" — it is. In , Byers notes that "Justice Department officials agreed that the journalists could discuss publicly in general some of the ideas that were discussed during the course of what otherwise an off the record meeting." Which ideas and what specifics didn't end up in the press is left to the imagination.

Despite not being one of the attendees, the Times managed to wring 1,100 words out of the gathering and Holder's push for revised rules around investigation. The paper cites sources in the room for its report; since there were only five people there, it's possible that the Times' sources overlap with Politico's.

Such an update, according to "an adviser familiar with the deliberations" granted anonymity by the paper, could include creating a requirement that the attorney general be required to review subpoenas for emails as well as phone records. As it stands,only requires such a review for "telephone toll records." This is an important point for efforts toduring testimony earlier this month. If he reviewed the Rosen search warrant, which it appears likely that he did, it could strengthen the argument that his statements to the House Judiciary Committee were duplicitous. (The Department of Justicedownplaying the suggestion.)

Both the Times and Politico make clear that nothing was cemented during the conversation. If the goal was for media outlets to offer feedback on Justice policies, that apparently occurred — at least from a small number of media outlets. If the goal was to develop revised procedures or to rebuild relationships between Holder and the press, that probably didn't. If anything, it provided another chance for the press to lambaste the Justice Department. If the goal was to have a private conversation in which the government and the media could discuss meeting mutual needs, that didn't happen at all.

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Bloomberg's Erik Matuszewski reports"best trick" competitions from any further iterations of the X-Games, its 18-year-old extreme sports challenge. Previously, riders on snowmobiles or specialized dirtbikes would throw themselves off a huge jump to attempt the gnarliest spin or flip moderation they possibly could. It often produced some of the Games'—and, of course, its biggest injuries, leading up this year's fatal one. 

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An  that the decision to cut the events was not tied to Moore's death at all. "Moto X Best Trick and Snowmobile Best Trick were not dropped in response to what happened in Aspen," . "This decision was under consideration before Aspen, and, in fact, our review of Snowmobile Freestyle continues."

This is ESPN's official statement on their reasoning for eliminating the best trick events: 

"This change reflects our decision to focus on motor sports disciplines which feature athletes who also compete in multiple, world-class competitions [e.g., professional events and tours] reflecting the highest degree of athlete participation, competitive development and the global nature of our X Games franchise. Over the past 18 years we have made more than 60 changes to our competition lineups at X Games events to capture the evolution of the sport and these continue that growth."

When you wade through the P.R. jargon, this translates roughly to: We want to focus on competitions that aren't only featured at the X-Games. So, while there are other freestyle snowmobile competitions, there aren't very many "best trick" competitions. It just so happens that the decision came two months after an athlete died in a freestyle snowmobile competition attempting a variation of a trick — the backflip — that's very common in "best trick" competitions. Total coincidence, guys. Nothing to see here. 

So, while there was no prior indication that either "best trick" competition was up for elimination, this was : 

As a result of this accident we will conduct a thorough review of this discipline and adopt any appropriate changes to future X Games.

For 18 years we have worked closely on safety issues with athletes, course designers and other experts. Still, when the world's best compete at the highest level in any sport, risks remain. Caleb was a four-time X Games medalist attempting a move he has landed several times previously.

But the two decisions aren't related. Nope, not at all related. Millions would believe you, ESPN, but somehow we don't.

The dangers of X-Games events , culminating this winter. Moore attempted a backflip during the snowmobile "best trick" competition, but his machine under-rotated. The snowmobile's skis dug into the ground and slammed the machine down on top of a helpless Moore. He was able to walk away from the incident, but was later admitted to the hospital for a concussion and bleeding around his heart. Following complications after surgery, Mooresuffered in competition. 

ESPN is still deliberating whether or not to cut the snowmobile freestyle competition. But the decision to preemptively cut motocross "best trick" is interesting. It, too, has led to major injuries for some of the biggest X-Games stars, though nothing approaching the same level as snowmobiling. Notably, in 2011, Travis Pastrana — one of the most decorated athletes in X-Games history —  on the first day of a planned three-day blitz of events. The , as it was called, was ruined. And it turns out, Pastrana is pretty bummed with the decision to cut one of his favorite competition — arguably the one that brought him the most fame. "Best trick was my favorite event both as a competitor and a spectator," . "Usually these athletes were capable of landing their trick in a foam pit or on special set up but under pressure, they rarely did which added to the dangerousness of it. Either way I was a fan of this event and will be sad to see it go."

Whether this decision indicates freestyle motocross, one of the biggest draws at the Summer X-Games, is in danger of surviving with ESPN remains to be seen. But you can be it will be dangerous.

The June 7-8 meeting at a retreat southeast of Los Angeles, announced Monday by the White House, underlines the importance of the relationship between the countries as they work out ways for the U.S.-led world order to make room for a China that is fast accruing global influence and military power.

President Xi has said China wants its rise to be peaceful, but that Beijing will not compromise on issues of sovereignty a stance that has aggravated disputes over contested East and South China Seas islands with several countries, including staunch U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines.

Among the other pressing items on the presidents' agenda: the spotty global economic recovery, U.S. allegations of persistent Chinese cyberattacks and espionage and Washington's desire for China to do more in international efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear program.

Washington has also criticized Beijing, along with Russia, for blocking tougher U.N. Security Council measures aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria. China, for its part, has repeatedly lashed out at the U.S. military's ongoing strengthening of its presence in Asia, what it considers Washington's support for Japan in its island dispute with Beijing, and the U.S. questioning of China's human rights record and military buildup.

The meeting will be "of great significance to strengthening strategic communications, increasing strategic mutual trust ... properly handling disputes, developing cooperative relations and building a new type of big-power relationship," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

The issues are so many that the agenda was becoming crowded for any Obama and Xi meeting.

The two leaders have spoken by telephone since Obama was re-elected and Xi elevated to Communist Party chief in November. Xi was named China's head of state in March for the first of what are expected to be two five-year terms.

The two met previously in February 2012, when Xi traveled to the U.S. as vice president and leader-in-waiting.

But before Monday's announcement, their first face-to-face meeting as leaders of their respective nations had not been expected until September in Russia, on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of 20 large economies.

"They needed more than 20 minutes on the sidelines of another meeting," said Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "If they want to see U.S.-China relations on a solid footing, to manage the differences and find issues to cooperate on North Korea, Iran, climate change it has to start at the top. U.S.-China relations are not managed from the bottom up but from the top down."

The White House, in its statement, said the two presidents will "discuss ways to enhance cooperation, while constructively managing our differences, in the years ahead."

The decision to hold a working visit instead of a pomp-filled state summit underscores the government's decision to put protocol aside to focus on substance. Xi will make the stop-off in California after traveling to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico.

"The engagement has become more flexible, and that helps keep the contact at the highest levels, which is conducive to understanding each other's viewpoints and taking more effective measures," Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University.

The Foreign Ministry's Hong pointed to cooperation on issues including climate change, energy security, North Korea, and Iran. Disputes also exist, he said, without offering details, and require "proper handling and active controlling by both sides."

U.S. diplomats have said that Chinese officials had wanted Obama to come to Beijing late this year or early next. His last visit was in 2009. Xi's predecessor as president, Hu Jintao, was given a formal White House welcome in 2011.

To prepare for the California meeting, Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, will go to Beijing on May 26-28, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

The victory put the Cheetahs, who suffered a surprise home reversal last week, back on course for a berth in the playoffs as they moved into seventh place in the standings.

The Reds remain in the playoff places despite a frustrating match which they dominated but little fell for them.

Van Zyl, given a rare run in the starting line-up, used his considerable speed to catch the Reds early as he darted away for a try in the first five minutes.

Another electric burst of pace saw him emerge from behind a maul to cut through the middle and score again in the 24th minute.

Fly half Elgar Watts proved effective with the boot as he missed just one of seven kicks at the Free State Stadium.

It was Watts's first full match for the Cheetahs, the fourth fly half they have been forced to use in an injury-plagued season. He slotted over five penalties and a conversion.

Replacement winger Ben Lucas scored a late try for the Reds but it proved little consolation.

"It was a disappointing night for us. We did all we didn't want to do - we didn't execute the last pass properly, we were very loose and we didn't get a chance to build pressure because were making too many mistakes," said Reds skipper James Horvill.

The Australian franchise crossed over the tryline twice only to be called back for forward passes and were held up on the line a further three times.

"It felt like we were defending all game but we showed great character. We didn't want to give up," said home captain Adriaan Strauss. "We were very good on defence and we scrambled well." (Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Alison Wildey)

They have two choices for the 50th anniversary game in 2016: the San Francisco Bay Area and South Florida.

The 49ers' new stadium is being built and is scheduled to open for the 2014 season. With the NFL showing a penchant for bringing is championship game to new venues Dallas and Indianapolis very recently, New Jersey next February Santa Clara would appear to have a strong chance. Only once has the Bay Area staged a Super Bowl, in 1985 at Stanford Stadium.

"I think with the new stadium ... we can host a Super Bowl there," said Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice. "It's going to be awesome. So I realize there's a lot of history at Candlestick. To stay competitive in the NFL, this is something we have really needed for a long, long time, and I think it's going to be awesome."

Not so awesome for the Miami area was a defeat in the state Legislature earlier this month that could severely damage its hopes of being chosen as the 2016 host. Or, for that matter, for South Florida to beat Houston for the 2017 game should it lose to San Francisco for the 50th edition. Both sites will be decided Tuesday.

The Dolphins were denied public money for a stadium upgrade. Multibillionaire Dolphins owner Stephen Ross contends $350 million in stadium improvements are badly needed, but he doesn't want to pay for them by himself. Nor does he want a scaled-down renovation of the 26-year-old facility.

"The House leadership has made our efforts to bring the Super Bowl back to Miami and South Florida much more difficult," said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee.

Miami does have experience on its side, having hosted 10 Super Bowls, tied with New Orleans for the most. All of the South Florida title games have been successful, although the only outdoor Super Bowl played in the rain was held there in 2007 when Peyton Manning and the Colts won the championship.

"This is not the stadium we had hoped we could include in the bid," Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said. "But we will be there when the NFL owners vote, and we'll put our best foot forward."

A three-quarters majority of the 32 owners is required on the first ballot Tuesday. If neither city gets that, then a simple majority wins on the next ballot.

The loser in the 2016 bidding will face Houston for the 2017 Super Bowl. Houston hosted the 2004 game.

Texans owner Bob McNair is cautious about his city's chances, even with SouthFlorida's political and financial struggles.

"Certainly what happened doesn't help Miami's bid. There's no doubt about that," McNair said. "But that doesn't say that the owners couldn't decide to still go to Miami."

For years, it was thought the NFL would seek to stage the 50th Super Bowl in Los Angeles, where the first one was played (but did not sell out) on Jan. 15, 1967. But with no franchise in LA and no suitable stadium projects approved, that hope disappeared.

Next Feb. 2, the game goes outdoors in a cold-weather site for the first time, at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. If that gamble pays off for the NFL, look for other cities in similar climates Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver to bid for future Super Bowls.

The league also has expressed great satisfaction with how Indianapolis handled the big game in 2012. New Orleans is a regular bidder, and Commissioner Roger Goodell has said the power outage during last year's game will not impact voting on the Big Easy hosting another Super Bowl.

The 2015 game will be played in the Phoenix area.

___

AP Sports Writers Janie McCauley and Steven Wine contributed to this story.