Samira Hussain
New York business correspondent

Image source, EPA

The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits again dipped below one million last week, with figures showing a further 870,000 claims.

The figure was slightly up from the previous week, however, suggesting the job market and the economic recovery in the US remains fragile.

The numbers show that, even six months after the coronavirus pandemic hit the US economy, employers continue to lay off workers. Meanwhile, the millions of Americans who were laid off earlier in the crisis continue to depend on unemployment benefits.

Also worrying economists is the cooler weather ahead. Many restaurants and businesses moved operations outdoors during the summer, but will probably have to start laying off workers again as winter approaches.

Next week, the US government will release the monthly unemployment rate for September. The jobless rate for August fell below 10% for the first time since the pandemic began, to 8.4%. Hopes will be high for another dip.

Read more: A visual guide to the economic impact

Image source, Reuters

A sea of American flags can be seen on the lawn of the National Mall in Washington DC, each one representing some of those who have died with Covid-19 in the country during the pandemic.

This week, the coronavirus death toll surpassed 200,000 in the US, the highest number of fatalities in the world.

To commemorate those who have lost their lives, the Covid Memorial Project organised for 20,000 flags to be planted in the capital.

Image source, Reuters

"This extreme loss of life is staggering,” the group wrote on a GoFundMe page, accusing US President Donald Trump of mishandling the pandemic.

The memorial project “seeks to simply say: these lives are more than a statistic - they were family, friends, neighbours”, the group wrote.

President Trump has defended his response to the pandemic, arguing that he took swift action to ban arrivals from China and Europe earlier this year, among other measures.

Image source, EPA

Anna Holligan
BBC News Hague correspondent

Image source, RTL4/JINEK

Influencers, rappers and a world-renowned DJ have been heavily criticised in the Netherlands after publicly announcing they were abandoning efforts to combat Covid-19.

Their campaign came as the numbers in Dutch intensive care units hit 100 for the first time since June and infection rates rose 60% on last week.

The Netherlands is among several European nations seeing a second wave.

The young stars used the hashtag #ik doe niet meer mee - "I'm out".

But as the backlash has grown, a number of them appear to have changed their minds.

Read the full story here.

Image source, Reuters

Sniffer dogs are a familiar sight at airports, where border agents use them to detect illegal substances and contraband.

Now sniffer dogs are using their noses for a different purpose - coronavirus.

Dogs specially trained to detect Covid-19 have this week started sniffing passengers as part of a trial at Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

Image source, Reuters

Volunteers are training a team of 15 dogs and 10 instructors for the research programme.

The dogs can detect coronavirus in humans five days before they develop symptoms, Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, the University of Helsinki professor who is running the trial, told Reuters news agency.

"They are very good [at detecting coronavirus]. We come close to 100% sensitivity," she said.

Image source, Reuters

Passengers wipe their necks with cloths, which are then placed in a can and put in front of dogs to sniff. A canine test can deliver a result within minutes.

But while the trial has shown early promise, more research needs to be done to prove the efficiency of canine testing. At the moment, passengers who take part in the trial are also instructed to take a swab to confirm the result.

In the future, it is possible that "these dogs go around passengers in a similar way to customs dogs", the deputy mayor of Vantaa, Timo Aronkyto, said.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier today, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a Job Support Scheme that will replace the Job Retention Scheme when it closes on 31 October.

Almost 10 million jobs have been supported by furlough, which pays the wages of those who cannot work because of the coronavirus pandemic.

So how will the new Job Support Scheme work?

Read our explainer here.

And finally, Alex Morales from Bloomberg says hundreds of thousands of self-employed people "fell between the cracks" when the government introduced its economic interventions earlier this year - and they look set to miss out again.

He asks what is the chancellor's message for these workers - should they abandon the careers they built and seek alternative work?

He also asks how many jobs does the Treasury expect to go in the coming months.

The chancellor says the support offered to the self-employed has been "more generous, more comprehensive and now, as a result of the announcements today, more long lasting than I think pretty much any country anywhere around the world".

He says it means 95% of people who are "majority self-employed" receive some support from the government.

On job losses, Sunak points to independent forecasts from the Bank of England and Office for Budget Responsibility.

"Their forecasts don't make for good reading. They're forecasting unemployment to go up to high single digits by the end of the year - that is a tragedy."

The chancellor is asked by The Sun what his message is to people on furlough right now: should they find a new job, start a business or just hope their company survives the winter?

Mr Sunak says the first thing to remember is "we have seen millions of people come back from furlough to work".

He says of nine million people who were furloughed, over half are back in work. That leaves one in ten of the labour force still on furlough, he says.

The chancellor says he hopes those still on furlough "feel reassured" the government is trying to get them back to their jobs.

He says the Job Support Scheme will "make it as easy as possible to bring those last remaining team members back into the workplace".

Gordon Rayner from the Daily Telegraph asks in a time where the private sector has had to make huge cutbacks, should the state not also become smaller?

Sunak says it was "right" for the state to step in at a time like this to provide the support it has done to businesses, employees and public services.

But he agrees that ultimately he wants the state to be as "nimble and agile as possible".

Paul Waugh from HuffPost UK asks Rishi Sunak if the success of Eat Out to Help Out might have contributed to the recent spread of the virus by packing out restaurants, as some scientists have argued?

The chancellor says the UK is on a similar path to other countries in Europe so it is "simplistic" to look at any one factor.

He says there are other factors such as the fact that we are in a season for respiratory illnesses now.

"More broadly, I don’t think it’s the wrong thing for the government and people to want to get their lives back to normal," he says.

Mr Sunak says there are "limits on that" and people will have to "learn and adjust" to live their lives and control the virus.

Ruth Sutherland from the Daily Mail asks Sunak how he will "pay the bill in the long term" for all of the government's economic interventions.

Sunak says the government can't continue to provide the same level support as it did at the beginning of the pandemic and that is why the measures announced today are more targeted.

But he says the situation would have been worse if the government hadn't acted in the way it had.

"But you're right, over time and as the economy recovers, we absolutely need to have an eye on our public finances and make sure we're in a strong and sustainable position."

He goes on to say he will have to make "difficult decisions in the future".

"But right now the priority is supporting the economy, throwing everything we've got at protecting people's job and that's what I will continue to do."

Watch the chancellor respond to a question from the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg on the new Job Support Scheme:

The Financial Times asks Sunak if he is prepared to scale up measures if tougher coronavirus restrictions come into place in the next few months.

Sunak says it's important to let the new measures take hold and implement them. He says the government is acting in advance of what it knows will be a difficult winter for the economy.

"We always stand ready to do what is necessary. I've been consistent throughout this crisis that this is an unprecedented situation.

"It demands a bold response, it demands rapid responses and it demands creative responses because we haven't dealt with things like this before."

Lizzy Buchan from the Daily Mirror asks Sunak if the Treasury has done any economic modelling on the impact of a second national lockdown. She also asks whether he would support it if it was backed by the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser?

But the chancellor does not answer this question directly. He says: "I completely agree with the prime minister on our approach to tackling this virus."

He says no one likes additional restricitons but "we all need to do our bit".

From an economic perspective too, taking action now means we are less likely to need to do "more difficult things in the future", the chancellor says.

But he says they will take stricter measures if necessary.

Channel 5's Andy Bell says there are big sectors of the economy that are having "terrible difficulties", such as hospitality, as a result of the government's restrictions.

He says the chancellor could have used a furlough scheme for specific sectors like hospitality.

He asks if jobs that will be lost as a result are a price "that has to be paid".

Sunak reiterates the measures offered to the hospitality sector.

He says everyone in hospitality is paying no business rates this year, alongside cash grants of £10,000 or £25,000, which were not available to other industries.

He also points to initiatives over the summer, such as the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and the VAT cut from 20% to 5% - which has been extended.

"That represents a considerable amount of support for that industry at what is I appreciate is a very difficult time."

Sunak is challenged by Tom Newton-Dunn of Times Radio to guarantee that unemployment will not rise above four million.

He's also asked to give assurances to people about to lose their jobs on when they might find something new.

But the chancellor says he would be "lying" if he gave "precise numbers or time frames" because of the "unprecedented economic uncertainty".

He says unemployment is already rising and it is a "complete tragedy" that 700,000 jobs have been lost.

"We’re throwing everything at it," he said, mentioning the Kickstart internship scheme, apprenticeships and increasing JobCentre capacity.

"There’s a lot of difficult times to come but it remains my number one priority."

The chancellor is asked if there is a real incentive for employers to hold on to staff given the scheme is much less generous. (The government will pay up to 22% of someone's wages in the new scheme, down from 80% at the start of the furlough scheme.)

He says it's "more targeted" and intended to "support those businesses who really need our help".

He says there is a "partnership" with government, employers and staff sharing the cost of lost wages equally.

"We're all in this together," he says.

Channel 4 News asks if the chancellor can be more specific about which jobs are viable. Should a sandwich shop owner in the City of London who has seen business drop by 90% keep his staff?

Sunak says he won't make a pronouncement on every job, he is just aiming to provide "as much support as possible".

"We obviously can’t sustain the same level fo support we could do at the start of the crisis," he says, adding that it would not be right as the "situation has evolved".

"I can’t promise that everybody will be able to go back to the job they had," Sunak adds.

But he says the government has increased apprenticeships and launched the Kickstart scheme to help people find new work.

Ed Conway from Sky News asks Sunak what his message is for employees who are being "penalised" by the government's new coronavirus restrictions and won't be helped out by the new economic policies announced earlier.

Sunak says it is "wrong" to talk about people being penalised. These restrictions are needed to suppress the virus and protect everyone, he says.

But he says it is right that people should not be disadvantaged, which is why the government has made "incredibly generous improvements" to the welfare system to universal credit, housing allowance, and the form of a hardship fund for local authorities.

"We've put in place a range of things to help the most vulnerable," he adds.

The BBC's political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, is first up to ask a question. She asks how many jobs can the Jobs Support Scheme save - and which jobs will no longer be "viable".

Sunak says it is "impossible" to predict the labour market.

He says the extent of the take-up of the furlough scheme had surprised "everybody". He said he hoped the new scheme would benefit a large number of people.

But, he says, it is not for him to make pronouncements on which jobs are not viable.

Image source, PA Media

After making his announcement in the House of Commons, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is now facing the media.

We'll bring you the top lines as they happen.