Initial weekly unemployment claims jumped to 357k during the week ending March 23, 2013.
Economists were expecting a reading of 340k.
To make things worse, last week's number was revised up to 341k from 336k.
The four-week moving average is now a 343k, which is a tad higher than last week's measure of 340k.
Still, jobless claims are very close to 5-year lows.