Verizon Dispute Keeps Jobless Claims Above 400,000

Initial jobless claims, elevated by a labor dispute at Verizon Communications, stubbornly remained above 400,000 in the week ending Aug. 20, the Labor department announced today. First time claims for U.S. unemployment rose to 417,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 412,000. At least 8,500 Verizon workers filed initial claims in the week ending Aug. 20. At least 12.500 were filed the week before. The dispute has since ended. First-time claims have been above 400,000 for the last 19 out of 20 months. The benchmark for sustainable job growth is considered to be 375,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile number that flattens out week-to-week fluctuations in the data, was 407,500, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 403,500. The number of Americans filing for continuing unemployment claims during the week ending Aug. 13 was 3,641,000, a decrease of 80,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,721,250. The four-week moving average was 3,701,000, a decrease of 19,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,720,750. 4. States reported 3,086,781 persons claiming emergency unemployment benefits in the week ended Aug. 6 (the most recent data available), a decrease of 43,827 from the previous week. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs ending July 30 was 7,290,189, a decrease of 45,989 from the previous week. The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Aug. 6 were in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Puerto Rico. The largest decreases were in Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas.