New Virginia unemployment claims down 60 percent last week

For the filing week ending Sept. 11, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Virginia was 3,822, a decrease of 2,357 claimants from the previous week.

This brings the number of weekly claims filed to their lowest level since 2,706 were filed during the March 14, 2020 filing week.

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 40,624, which was a decrease of 3,811 claims from the previous week and 80 percent lower than the 201,616 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, administrative and waste services industries, retail trade, and accommodation and food services. 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.