New Virginia unemployment claims up marginally over the past week

For the filing week ending Jan. 29, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Virginia was 2,157, an increase of 217 claimants from the previous week.

Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in administrative and waste services, construction, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and professional and technical services.

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 7,439, which was a decrease of 104 claims from the previous week and 89 percent lower than the 67,337 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.