WASHINGTON — A 15-day strike at Verizon Communications Inc. fueled an unexpected gain in new jobless-benefit claims last week, though the market still looks weak even after stripping out effects of the labor dispute.
Initial jobless claims rose by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 417,000 in the week ended Aug. 20, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims filed in the previous week were revised up to 412,000 from an originally reported 408,000.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast claims would sink to 405,000.
The Labor Department said a strike by workers at Verizon added at least 8,500 new claims last week and another 12,500 claims in the week ended Aug. 13.
“Those claims have inflated the national total,” a Labor economist said.
Workers at Verizon began returning to work Monday evening. Verizon’s unions had called the strike, involving 45,000 workers, to protest concessions the company is seeking on pensions, health care and job security.
Once the strike figures are stripped out, Thursday’s report paints a mixed picture of the overall market.
“The labor market may be improving, but the rate of improvement is very sluggish, with layoffs remaining fairly elevated,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics LLC.
The four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out often- volatile weekly data, increased 4,000 to 407,500, the Labor Department said.
Economists generally think the economy is adding more jobs than it is shedding when claims drop below 400,000, a figure breached only once since April.
