By Sarah Chaney

Unemployment claims fell slightly to one million last week, signalling layoffs continue as the coronavirus hampers a smooth economic recovery.

New applications for unemployment benefits remained well below the recent peak of about seven million in March but are far higher than pre-pandemic levels of about 200,000 claims per week.

The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, ticked down to about 14.5 million for the week ended Aug. 15.

"We're chipping away at the losses in terms of the number of jobs and some of the weaknesses there, but there's still a long ways to go," said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com