The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits climbed again last week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the labor market and trigger a high number of job losses.

Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that 861,000 Americans filed first-time jobless claims in the week ended Feb. 13, higher than the 765,000 forecast by Refinitiv economists. Last week's figure was revised upward by 55,000 to 848,00, the Labor Department said.

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The number of Americans applying for aid has remained stubbornly high for months, hovering around four times the pre-crisis level, although it's well below the peak of almost 7 million that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in March. More than 70 million Americans, or about 40% of the labor force, have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

Continued claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment benefits, fell to 4.49 million, a decline of about 64,000 from the previous week. The report shows that roughly 18.3 million Americans were receiving some kind of jobless benefit through Jan. 30, a decrease of about 1.32 million from the previous week. Read more at FOX Business