WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. has added three more companies to a list that bars imports from firms allegedly involved with Uyghur forced labor in China, according to a U.S. government notice posted online on Tuesday.

The latest targets include shoe manufacturer Dongguan Oasis Shoes Co, electrolytic aluminum maker Xinjiang Shenhuo Coal and Electricity Co and food processor Shandong Meijia Group Co, also known as Rizhao Meijia Group, the notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

 U.S. small-business confidence and hiring plans increased in May to their highest levels of the year, but the looming U.S. presidential election also drove uncertainty to nearly a four-year high, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its Small Business Optimism Index rose eight-tenths of a point to 90.5 last month, the second consecutive month it has risen after slumping in March to the lowest level since December 2012.

Donald Trump promised a massive break to hospitality workers at his first post-conviction rally in Nevada on Sunday — vowing to nix taxes on employee tips if re-elected.

“When I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips, on people making tips,” the Republican former president and 2024 presidential candidate, 77, claimed to the crowd in sweltering Sunset Park, where temps topped 100 degrees.

The declaration drew a roar from the gathering, which vastly exceeded the reported 6,000 tickets issued

Former President Donald Trump said he would eliminate taxes on tipped income if he wins a second White House term, an effort to appeal to voters in the battleground state of Nevada, where he held his first rally Sunday since the historic conviction in a New York hush money trial.

“Hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” Trump said at the Las Vegas rally. “We’re going to do that right away, first thing in office.”

Campaigning in a state powered by the service industry, Donald Trump said Sunday that his administration would eliminate taxes on tipped income as a “first thing” if he is reelected.

“For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips,” Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas.

US job growth shot much higher than expected in May, jumping to 272,000, while the nation’s jobless rate rose slightly and broke a 27-month streak of below-4% unemployment.

At a time when Americans and the Federal Reserve are clamoring for clear-cut data about the state and trajectory of the economy, Friday’s jobs report was much more opaque than everyone had hoped.

U.S. job growth accelerated again in May, defying expectations for a slowdown, even as the unemployment rate rose to the highest level in more than two years.

Employers added 272,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday, easily topping the 185,000 gain forecast by LSEG economists. But the unemployment rate unexpectedly inched higher to 4% against expectations that it would hold steady at 3.9%. It marked the highest level for the jobless rate since January 2022.

The U.S. economy added far more jobs than expected in May, countering fears of a slowdown in the labor market and likely reducing the Federal Reserve’s impetus to lower interest rates.

Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 272,000 for the month, up from 165,000 in April and well ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 190,000, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

A top news union’s organizing costs and some of its leaders’ outspoken left-leaning criticism of journalism are drawing a backlash from some unionized journalists at the New York Times, Reuters, and other newsrooms.

Walmart is adding a new bonus for hourly store workers months after hiking store managers' pay and redesigning the bonus program for managers, the retailer announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: The nation's largest private employer and largest retailer is looking for more ways to retain employees in the competitive labor market.