WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims increased 5,000 to 417,000 for the week ending Aug. 20, boosted in part by workers who filed claims as a result of a labor dispute with Verizon Communications, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims fell to 3.641 million for the week ending Aug. 13.
Economists expected 405,000 initial claims and 3.70 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.