The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 4,000 last week to 212,000, according to the US Labor Department data released Thursday.
Markets expected the figure to rise to 217,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised 208,000.
The four-week moving average was 220,250 -- an increase of 750 from the previous week's upwardly revised 219,500.
The US economy added 130,000 jobs in January, well above forecasts, up from 48,000 in the previous month.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4% in December.
