The data from the Labor Department revealed on Thursday the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly rose last week, as the U.S. labor market is struggling to recover from its biggest shock in history, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 742,000 for the week ended November 14. This marked the first rise in weekly initial claims since the week ended October 11.

Economists had expected 707,000 new claims last week.

Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 711,000 from the initial estimate of 709,000.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of claims decreased to 742,000 from an upwardly revised 755,750 in the previous week.

Continuing claims declined to 6,372,000 million from an upwardly revised 6,801,000 in the previous week.