First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by more than expected in the week ended March 23rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report showed that initial jobless claims rose to 357,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 340,000 from the 336,000 originally reported for the previous week.