WASHINGTON—The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined to 779,000 last week, a still-historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the viral pandemic. Last week’s total dropped from 812,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday, and is the lowest in two months. Still, before the virus erupted in the United States in March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000, even during the Great Recession. Thursday’s report reflects a U.S. job market that is still suffering from the pandemic, with hiring having weakened for six straight months. All told, 17.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 16, the latest period for which data are available. That’s down from 18.3 million from the week before. Despite the generally dim picture of the economy, some hopeful signs have emerged this week. Auto sales rose solidly in …