Initial jobless claims jumped to 379,000, higher than economist expectations for 336,000.
Last week's print of 368,000 was revised up to 369,000.
Continuing claims came in at 2.884 million, higher than the 2.77 million expected and the last (revised) print of 2.79 million.
"Watch for another substantial move in jobless claims on Thursday as the series continues to be buffeted by holiday/technical issues," wrote Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna ahead of the report.