WASHINGTON – Orders to American factories rose 0.9% in April, the fastest clip in five months, and worker productivity at the start of the year turned out to have been better than originally thought.

The nation’s retailers also reported better-than-expected sales in May, but all the economic news released Thursday wasn’t good. Labor costs, a key factor influencing inflation rates, were up sharply for the past six months.

The Commerce Department said factory orders rose in April as demand for durable goods posted a solid 1.9% gain, the first increase in four months, led by strength in demand for autos and aircraft. Those gains offset a 0.2% decline in orders for nondurable goods.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.9% in the first quarter, revised upward from an initial report of 2.6%. However, the cost of labor per unit of output jumped at an annual rate of 3.3%. That followed a revised increase of 7.7% in labor costs in the fourth quarter,which was the biggest surge in four years.

“This is seriously bad news for the Fed – costs appear to be spiraling rapidly – and it strongly argues for substantially higher interest rates,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief domestic economist at High Frequency Economics.

But other analysts were not as concerned, noting that the fourth-quarter surge reflected end-of-the-year bonuses that should not trigger wage pressures.

In other economic news, the nation’s retailers reported generally upbeat sales figures for May with luxury stores such as Nordstrom and teen retailers including Bebe Stores among the big winners.

And in a final report, the Labor Department said the number of new claims for unemployment benefits shot up by 25,000 last week, the biggest weekly increase in 14 months.