By Tuba Ongun
The number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims surged 17,000 last week to 242,000, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
The figure bucked the forecast of 221,000 and was down from the previous week's revised figure of 225,000.
The four-week moving average was 224,250, an increase of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 218,500.
The US economy added 227,000 jobs in November, up from a revised 36,000 jobs in October.
The unemployment rate was at 4.2% in October, slightly up from the previous month.