New Virginia unemployment claims still way up from where they’d been in recent weeks

After a big jump in new unemployment claims last week, the numbers were more steady, if still not good at all, this week.

But, yes, there’s a catch, from the fun with numbers perspective.

For the filing week ending April 3, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 28,526, an increase of 282 claimants from the previous week, according to data released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

This brought the total number of claims filed since the March 27, 2020 filing week to 1,582,695, compared to the 477,600 average filed during the previous three economic recessions since 1990.

For the filing week ending March 27, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 28,244, an increase of 10,684 claimants from the previous week.

So, this week’s numbers were steady from last week, but still way up from where we’d been.

This as the VEC, in its infinite wisdom, is saying that it’s going to start enforcing requirements that those seeking unemployment benefits demonstrate that they are actively seeking work, and going on in a press release about fraud.

The editorial comment from earlier in the week still applies: maybe wait ’til things get back to normal?

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 57,344, which was a 0.5 percent increase from the previous week, but 75,840 lower than the 133,184 continued claims from the comparable week last year.

Over half of claims that had a self-reported industry were in the accommodation/food service, administrative and waste services, retail trade, and healthcare/social assistance industries. The continued claims total is mainly comprised of those recent initial claimants who continued to file for unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.