(The Center Square) – Just over a million workers filed new unemployment claims last week as the coronavirus and governments' response to it continue to dampen the U.S. economy.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that the number of new claims for the week ending August 22 represented a drop of about 98,000 from the week prior's 1.1 million new claims.

Continued jobless claims, which count people who filed for benefits for at least two consecutive weeks, were at 14.5 million, down from 14.8 million the week prior.