Initial jobless claims rose by a seasonally adjusted 8,000 to 357,000 last week, the U.S. Labor Department said today. That marked the highest level since late September.

Last week’s increase followed a sharp rise in claims — of 25,000 — in the prior week.

The newest snapshot of labour market activity was a bit disappointing to economists. They were forecasting claims to drop to around 335,000 for last week.

Higher energy bills and expensive health-care costs may be taking their toll on some companies and forcing them to trim workers.

Meanwhile, prices of goods imported into the U.S. increased at the slowest pace in five months in November as oil prices began to drop, helping to moderate external inflation pressures on the economy.

Overall import prices rose a meager 0.2% last month after a 1.6% increase in October, the Labor Department said today. The slowdown mainly reflected petroleum prices, which fell 2.6%. Non-petroleum prices rose 0.7%, the fastest rate since January.

The numbers matched analysts’s expectations.