The US Department of Labor reported on Thursday that it had recorded 298,000 new weekly jobless claimants for the week ended September 2, reflecting a surge of 36,000 from the previous week (unrevised figure).
By comparison, economists expected a much less pronounced increase of around 239,000.
It is also a higher since April 18, 2015.
The 4-week moving average was measured at 250,250, an increase of 13,500 on a weekly basis.
In addition, it has been 131 consecutive weeks that the number of registered unemployed weekly remains below the threshold of 300,000.
Lastly, the number of people receiving regular benefits decreased by 5,000 in weekly comparison for the week closed on 26 August (the last week for which data are available) to 1,940,000.