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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time claims for state unemployment benefits remained unusually high in the latest week as more workers qualified for regular benefits under an unrelated extended federal benefits program, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims for the week ending Aug. 2 rose to 455,000, a gain of 7,000 from the 448,000 claims reported a week prior. The four-week average of new claims rose by 26,750 to 419,500, the highest since July 2003. Continuing unemployment claims rose by 31,000 to 3.3 million.