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Initial jobless claims increased by 5,000 last week to 417,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast a rate of 405,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, climbed to 407,500, from 403,500.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Aug. 13 fell by 80,000 to 3.64 million, Labor said.