New Virginia unemployment claims down 17 percent over past week

For the filing week ending March 19, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Virginia was 1,546, a decrease of 308 claimants from the previous week.

Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in administrative and waste services, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing. Eligibility for benefits is determined on a weekly basis, and so not all weekly claims filed result in a benefit payment. This is because the initial claims numbers represent claim applications; claims are then reviewed for eligibility and legitimacy.

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 6,954, which was an increase of 270 claims from the previous week and was 88 percent lower than the 58,233 continued claims from the comparable week last year.

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.