Earlier this morning, my colleague Melly Alazraki noted that jobless claims rose in the past week. Let's take a look at the numbers. Last week, the number of people filing initial jobless claims increased 22,000 to 496,000. Not only was this increase unexpected, but it also puts the number of jobless claims at their highest rate since mid-November. "Experts" predicted the number of claims would fall to 460,000 in the past week -- whoops.

Here's the best part: some are trying to blame the increase in claims to the snowstorms that have blanketed the East Coast ... seriously. According to the Associated Press report, heavy snow boosted layoffs.

The two winter storms that hit the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. brought with them $2 billion in insured losses. With wind gusts exceeding 50 mph and snow accumulations topping 30 inches in some places, the majority of insured losses, according to catastrophe modeling firm EQECAT, will be sustained from northern Virginia through the New York metropolitan area. Roof drainage, pipe breakage and water leaks from ice dam in eaves are the most common causes of monetary losses, which find their way up the risk supply chain to insurers.