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First-time filings for unemployment benefits hit a pandemic-era low in numbers for the week ending Oct. 16, according to U.S. Department of Labor data reported by CNBC. Weekly claims were down 6,000 from the prior week to 290,000, which the news agency tied to the end of enhanced unemployment benefits.

The filings were lower than economists' expectations, with Dow Jones projecting 300,000 for the week.

Earlier hopes that the crash of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande Group could remain mostly contained and not harm the larger Chinese economy seem to be eroding as the Wall Street Journal reports "dollar bond defaults from Chinese property developers are rising quickly as the country's housing market slumps."

The newspaper reports China's real estate sector "has already endured its worst selloff in a decade, after property giant China Evergrande Group skipped some interest payments to dollar bondholders in late September, and smaller rival Fantasia Holdings Group Co. surprised investors by defaulting on debt that matured in early October."

The yearly budgeting process is never easy for hotels, but it has grown exponentially more difficult in an era when it's difficult to make any assumptions about revenue, HNN's Bryan Wroten reports.

Without a clear understanding of how much leisure demand will carry over from 2021 and what the trajectory of corporate transient and group demand will be, hoteliers are facing a massive challenge.

“Budgeting is always kind of a crystal-ball question, and I think this year is particularly cloudy,” said Barbara Purvis, president and director at Essex Hotel Management.

Hotels in the U.S. recorded their highest levels of occupancy since mid-August for the week ending Oct. 16, according to the latest data from STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm.

Occupancy for the week hit 65%, but it was still down 10% from the comparable week in 2019. Average daily rate was $134.03, down 1.4% from the 2019 period, and revenue per available room was $87.15, down 11.3%.

With Thailand slated to reopen to vaccinated travelers beginning Nov. 1, some budget businesses are complaining reopening plans favor high-end travelers that will leave them in the dust, Reuters reports.

Supattanapong Punmeechaow, a deputy prime minister and minister of energy, has said reopening plans "focus on quality tourists who can spend more," rather than having vast numbers of tourists who could strain "the country's environment and natural resources."

But businesses like budget hotels that rely on backpackers could be on the wrong side of that change.

“Chiang Mai has always got all types of tourists, so to focus on just high-spending tourists is not right — what about us, the businesses who cater to others,” Rachana, a manager at a mid-priced guesthouse in the Old City who goes by one name, told the news outlet.

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