The brisk economic recovery has driven down the number of American workers seeking unemployment benefits, which last week fell to a pandemic-era low of 385,000, although the number remains historically elevated. Initial filings for unemployment insurance, a proxy for layoffs, came in at 385,000 for the week ended July 31, a drop of 14,000 over the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department said in a release (pdf) Thursday. While the drop in initial jobless claims reflects the dynamics of a rebounding economy, the number of last week’s filings is nearly twice as high as the pre-pandemic weekly average of around 220,000, suggesting the labor market still has a ways to go in its recovery. “It was about a year ago when new claims first fell below the 1 million level for the first time after the pandemic began. In total, some 12.9 million Americans continue to receive some form …