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

The Labor Department says last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week and is still the lowest in two months.

Still, before the virus erupted in the United States last March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the great recession.

As the U.S. economy undergoes an uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, many small business owners face a tough decision on whether and when to hire employees.

For many owners, it’s a question of how comfortable customers will feel about gathering in places like restaurants, stores, and gyms.

Retailers don’t yet know how much business they’ve permanently lost to online competitors. For owners starting over, it’s too soon to know if their brand-new companies will be successful enough to take on employees.

Officials at Prince’s Paisley Park estate announced Wednesday that one of the original white doves that prince kept at his residence died Tuesday.

The dove, a female named Divinity, lived to be 28 years old, surpassing the average lifespan of most doves. Paisley Park officials said her health had been declining.

Elizabeth Neil can be reached at emneil@stthomas.edu.