The state’s labor department reported a drop in new unemployment insurance claims for the fifth straight week at the start of February.

The Maine Department of Labor reported Thursday that about 2,800 Mainers filed new unemployment claims last week, down from a high of 3,900 at the beginning of the year.

Weekly initial claims are still double what they were at the same time last year.

Nearly 50,000 claims for continued unemployment insurance were filed last week.