New Virginia unemployment claims down slightly in the past week

The Virginia Employment Commission announced Thursday initial weekly unemployment claims of 1,845, and number of continued claims was 7,252.

The continued weeks claims total increased from the previous week but remains at pre-pandemic levels during the most recent filing week.

For the filing week ending April 23, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,845. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 16 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in administrative and waste services, retail trade, health care and social assistance, and professional, scientific, 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 7,252, which was an increase of 222 claims from the previous week but was 87 percent lower than the 54,281 continued claims from the comparable week last year.