Last week, the number of Americans filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose to 742,000 due to concerns that the increasing COVID-19 cases are hindering the recovery of the labor market.

Economists had predicted that the figure would drop to 707,000, while the previous week's number was revised to 711,000, according to the Labor Department. This marks the first increase in six weeks, with the highest number of claims coming from California and Washington, while Illinois, Kentucky, and Georgia all saw declines.

The total number of claims has decreased to 6.372 million, slightly below expectations.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients reached a record high of over 79,000 on Wednesday, with deaths surging to their highest level since early May.

Several states are implementing measures to combat a new wave of COVID, impacting businesses, while economic growth has slowed due to fiscal stimulus from earlier this year. The economy fell into recession in February but rebounded strongly in the third quarter before losing momentum again since October.

In other sectors, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported a slowdown in manufacturing, although production has been smoother than expected. The leading index fell below expectations to 26.3 from 32.3 in September.

SOURCE: investing