Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rose after mixed data spurred hopes for a second round of coronavirus relief.

Used-home sales rose 4.3% in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million, the highest level since February 2006, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Initial claims for jobless benefits, a proxy for layoffs, rose to a seasonally adjusted 742,000 last week, up from the 711,000 filed a week earlier. That level is more than three times higher than the roughly 210,000 typically filed each week in the first two months of 2020, though it is down sharply from a peak of nearly seven million in late March.

"I think you're going to see some volatility [on the stock market] because economic data is going to be inconsistent," said Oliver Pursche, an independent market strategist.

"You're already seeing that, just in the last few days, with retail sales being weaker than expected then housing data stronger than expected; and an uptick in unemployment, that's not particularly surprising, given the increase in Covid but, nonetheless, is something investors are not happy about."

Shares of Macy's rose after the department-store chain posted a smaller-than-anticipated decline in quarterly sales. Macy's Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette said in an interview Thursday that the company has demonstrated it can operate its stores safely during the pandemic, indicating they are large enough to accommodate social-distancing policies.

United Airlines Holdings was the latest carrier on Thursday to report that bookings have slowed and cancellations have risen over the last week amid a nationwide surge in Covid-19 cases, echoing warnings from Southwest Airlines and Alaska Air Group.

Bath & Body Works posted a 55% jump in quarterly sales as the coronavirus fueled demand for soap and hand sanitizer, helping its parent company offset another quarter of declining sales at its Victoria's Secret lingerie brand.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-19-20 1710ET