By Eric Morath

Filings for jobless benefits fell last week by the most in a month, a sign layoffs eased somewhat as the labor market tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Initial unemployment claims fell by a seasonally adjusted 249,000 to 1.2 million for the week ended Aug. 1, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline came as an extra $600 a week in pandemic-related unemployment benefits ended.

Last week's level of applications was the lowest level since early March, but remained well above the highest on a weekly record before this year, which was 695,000 in 1982. Prior to last week, applications had plateaued in recent weeks, halting what had been a steady decline from a peak of 6.9 million in late March, when the pandemic and business closures shut down parts of the U.S. economy.

The number of people receiving benefits through regular state programs, which cover the majority of workers, decreased by 844,000 to 16.1 million for the week ended July 25. Those so-called continuing claims, reported with a week lag, fell to lowest level since April.

Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 06, 2020 09:01 ET (13:01 GMT)