By Greg Robb WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of initial claims in the week ending Aug. 13 rose 9,000 to 408,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The increase was larger than expected.
The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to rise to 400,000.
The four-week average fell 3,500 to 402,500. The number of people who continued to receive state unemployment checks increased by 7,000, to 3.7 million, in the week of Aug. 6. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag
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