Washington, Nov 27 (IANS): The number of unemployment claims in the US has exceeded economists' expectations for the week ended November 21, as the jobs market continues to be badly impacted by the raging Covid-19 pandemic and relevant social-distancing rules.

Claims totalled 778,000 for the week ended November 21, more than the 733,000 expectation from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and up from 742,000 the previous week, Xinhua news agency quoted the Labour Department as saying.

Continuing claims for those collecting benefits for at least two weeks maintained their decline, falling by 299,000 to 6.07 million.

The worse-than-expected jobless claims came amid the continued Covid-19 resurgence, when the national healthcare system continues to be strained from the flooding infected patients.

The grim report comes as the US still accounts for the world's highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, making it the worst-affected country.

In its latest update on Friday, the the Johns Hopkins University revealed that the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 12,879,861 and 263,413, respectively.