Verizon strike lifted jobless figures

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of Verizon workers on strike pushed the number of people seeking unemployment benefits last week to its highest level in a month.

But excluding the work stoppage, layoffs appear to be stabilizing. That should help ease fears that the economy is on the verge of a recession.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits rose 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 417,000, the Labor Department said.

But last week's non-seasonally adjusted total included about 8,500 of those employees, the department said. About 12,500 striking workers filed claims two weeks ago.

About 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike Aug. 7. Unions representing the workers ended the strike earlier this week.

Applications were slowly declining before the strike. They are down from an eight-month high of 478,000 in April. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 407,500, the first increase in eight weeks.

Still, applications typically need to fall below 375,000 to signal sustainable job growth. They haven't been at that level since February. -- AP