Officials say nearly 14,000 people filed for unemployment in New Jersey last week, down 17% and the lowest weekly total for new claims since the COVID-19 outbreak came to the state.

The state Labor Department said Thursday that it’s the second week in a row that the number of claims fell compared with the week before.

For the week ending Aug. 8, there were 13,822 applications, down from 16,573 the week before. That figure was down 41% over the prior week.

Nearly 1.5 million people have sought jobless benefits in New Jersey since the first week of March, when the first case of coronavirus was reported in the state.