2.42 million new U.S. unemployment claims...beyond one's expectations

The U.S. Labor Department said there were 242,000 new unemployment claims last week, up 17,000 from a week ago.

This was the highest figure in two months since 242,000 weekly cases on Oct. 6-12, above the 220,000 expert forecast compiled by Dow Jones.

The number of "continued unemployment benefits" claims filed for unemployment benefits for more than two weeks was 1.886 million weekly between Nov. 24-30, up 5,000 from the previous week.

Wall Street is paying keen attention to U.S. job market trends, with the U.S. Federal Reserve saying it will gradually cut interest rates in light of solid U.S. economic trends.

Rising numbers of new and continuing jobless claims, in particular, are expected to serve as important variables for interest rate policy and economic trends, as they indicate a possible weakening of labor market and consumer spending.