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.
At least 12,500 initial claims were filed during the week ending Aug. 13 stemming from the Verizon dispute, and at least 8,500 claims were filed last week. The figures appear in the unadjusted initial claims data.
Though the dispute between Verizon and the Communication Workers of America was widely reported as a strike, in which workers would not receive benefits for walking off the job, states are still determining if some workers were locked out from their jobs, entitling them to benefits, a Labor official said.
Economists expected 405,000 initial claims and 3.70 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending Aug. 13 were revised higher to 412,000 from 408,000. Continuing claims were revised to 3.721 million from 3.702 million the week earlier.
The four-week moving average for initial claims increased to 407,500 from 403,500. The four-week average for continuing claims declined to 3.701 million from 3.720.
