The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended April 3 rose by 18,000, or 4.1% to 460,000 from the previous week's revised number of 442,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

Last week's increase in jobless numbers was not expected, according to media reports. MarketWatch reported that economists expected the number of claims to number only 442,000 and reported that a Labor Department official said the data was impacted by the Easter holiday.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended April 3 rose by 2,250, or 0.5%, to 450,250 from the previous week's revised average of 448,000.