Big decrease in new unemployment claims

For the filing week ending Sept. 25, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Virginia was 8,717, a decrease of 7,245 claimants from the previous week.

After last week’s sharp increase, filings reverted to prior weeks’ levels.

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 47,241, which was an increase of 9,672 claims from the previous week and 73 percent lower than the 173,713 continued claims from the comparable week last year.

Over half of claims that had a self-reported industry were in the health care and social assistance, retail trade, administrative and waste services, and accommodation and food services 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.