Initial jobless claims rose a 17,000 to 361,000 in the week ended December 15, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Claims for the week ended December 8 were revised up to 344,000 from the initially reported 343,000.
Continuing jobless claims were 3.225 million in the week of December 8, a 12,000 increase from the upwardly revised 3.213 million the week before, first reported as 3.198 million.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected 355,000 initial and 3.200 million continuing claims.