First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by more than expected in the week ended December 6th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 236,000, an increase of 44,000 from the previous week's revised level of 192,000.

The bigger than expected increase came a week after jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over three years.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 216,750, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 214,750.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, tumbled by 99,000 to 1.838 million in the week ended November 29th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell to 1,918,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,945,000.

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