WASHINGTON -- The number of jobless claims in the United States exceeded economists' expectations for the week ended Nov. 21, as the jobs market continues to sustain pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and relevant social-distancing rules.

Claims totaled 778,000 for the week ended Nov. 21, more than the 733,000 expectation from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and up from 742,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. (US-Unemployment-Coronavirus)

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BEIJING -- Underpinned by solid global demand for exports and a peak of stock market's gain since 2015, China's economic recovery stabilized in November, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday.

"Authorities are turning their focus to longer-term growth objectives and discussing withdrawing the emergency stimulus" injected earlier this year, the report said, noting that China remains to be the only major economy likely to expand in 2020. (China-Economic Recovery-Report)

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HARARE -- Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said Thursday that the southern African country's economy is expected to grow by 7.4 percent in 2021 after a projected 4.1 percent contraction this year.

Ncube made the projection while presenting the 2021 national budget to parliament in Harare. (Zimbabwe-Economy-Growth)

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WARSAW -- Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced a new economic stimulus package on Thursday for businesses that have suffered during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The so-called Financial Shield 2.0 stimulus, estimated to be between 35 billion and 40 billion Polish Zloty (between 9 billion and 10.5 billion U.S. dollars), is aimed to help 40 sectors particularly impacted by the second wave of the COVID-19. Businesses active in, among others, transport, retail, tourism and gastronomy, can apply for funds needed to pay employees and avoid bankruptcy. (Poland-Economy-Stimulus Package)