The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week and more people continued to collect unemployment checks at the end of November relative to the beginning of the year as demand for labor cools.

Applications for US unemployment benefits rose to a two-month high last week, at a time around the end-of-year holidays when data is volatile.

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remains at historically healthy levels. Jobless claim applications rose by 9,000 to 224,000 for the week of Nov. 30, the Labor Department reported Thursday.