Weekly jobless claims higher than awaited

It’s not the secret that coronavirus is worsening every day. Significantly, the pace of first-time filings for jobless claims increased last week, with the jobs market showing increasing vulnerability to the Covid-19 spread. According to the Labor Department, For the week ended November 21, claims equalled 788,000, which is more than expected from economists surveyed by The Dow Jones (733,000). In the previous session, claims were 742,000.

Significantly, the news appears amid a rapid boost in Covid-19 infections as well as concerns that the national health system is becoming stressed. New daily diseases have surpassed 174,225 over the past weeks, and according to health officials, Thanksgiving could lift daily cases higher, as families across the county travel to celebrate the holiday.

Moreover, weekly claims have been under 800,000 for the last six weeks; however, they are still well above the pre-pandemic record as governments impose restrictions on activity.

Furthermore, Enrollment in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides benefits to those not normally eligible, declined by 8.019 over the past week and reached 311,675. But, people on the PUA emergency program, which supports people who have lost their benefits with 13 more weeks of compensation, increased by 466,106 and hit 9.15 million.

Significantly, the total receiving benefits increased to 20.45 million for the week ended November 7, while in previous week it stood at 135,297.

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Durable goods orders gained 1.3%, more than expected

Moreover, durable goods orders increased by 1.3%, while they expected rise of 0.6% Dow Jones estimate, while the Commerce Department confirmed that gross domestic product bounced at a 33.1% annualized pace in the Q3.

According to a chief financial economist at MUFH Union Bank, this is one of the most substantial recoveries from recession in history.

Furthermore, Illinois witnessed the most massive weekly increase in claims, as it increased by 18,225, which equals 39%. Michigan also faced significant gain in claims and boosted by 15,843 while Washington state witnessed 13,179 rises. Additionally, Massachusetts declined by 23,172.