New Virginia unemployment claims down 18.4 percent last week

For the filing week ending Feb. 19, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Virginia was 1,610, a decrease of 363 claimants from the previous week.

Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in administrative and waste services, health care and social assistance, retail trade, professional and technical services, 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 7,258, which was an increase of 20 claims from the previous week and 89 percent lower than the 64,575 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.