WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment aid last week — the latest encouraging sign for the rebounding U.S. economy — just as Republican-led states are moving to cut off a federal benefit for the jobless.

Twenty-two states, from Texas and Georgia to Ohio and Iowa, plan to begin blocking a $300-a-week federal payment for the unemployed starting in June, according to an Associated Press analysis. Jobless people have been able to receive the $300 federal benefit on top of their regular state unemployment aid. The payment, which has set to last until Sept. 6, was included in Presiden...