U.S. applications for jobless benefits ticked up last week, but the overall number of people in the U.S. collecting unemployment benefits fell after hitting its highest level in two years last week.

Unemployment benefits claims rose by 1,000 to 220,000 for the week ending Dec. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was in line with analyst expectations.

About 1.86 million were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended Nov. 25, 64,000 fewer than the previous week. It's just the second time in 11 weeks that continuing claims have fallen.

Analysts say the continuing claims have been rising because many of those who are already unemployed may now be having a harder time finding new work. That comports with a government report earlier this week showing that U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March of 2021.

Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.