WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to 779,000 last week, a historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people are still losing jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months.

Before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession.