WEEKLY JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP BUT REMAIN HIGH

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined to 779,000 last week, a still- historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the viral pandemic. Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months. Thursday’s report reflects a U. S. job market that is still suffering from the pandemic. All told, 17.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 16, the latest period for which data are available. That’s down from 18.3 million from the week before.