New unemployment claims in Virginia at two-month high

The number of new unemployment claims filed with the Virginia Employment Commission last week was at its highest level since May.

For the filing week ending July 25, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 42,966. The latest claims figure was an increase of 5,020 claimants from the previous week.

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 344,826, down 12,272 from the previous week, but 324,629 higher than the 20,197 continued claims from the comparable week last year.

Continued claims have trended downward in the last month and fell to their lowest level since April during the most recent filing week. The continued claims total is mainly comprised of those recent initial claimants who continued to file for unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 shutdown.