WASHINGTON, D.C. (Fox News): The number of Americans applying for state unemployment benefits hovered below 1 million again last week, reflecting a gradual recovery in the nation’s labor market from the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown.

The latest jobless claims figures from the Labor Department, which cover the week ending Sept. 5, show that 884,000 workers sought aid last week, pushing the total number since the shutdown began to more than 60 million.

Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected 846,000 new claims.

The report comes on the heels of new government data released last week that showed the economy added 1.4 million jobs in August, sending the unemployment rate tumbling to 8.4% from 10.2%. While it marked the fourth month of job growth in the millions, there are still 11.5 million more out-of-work Americans compared to February, before the pandemic struck.