The number of initial unemployment claims filed with the Virginia Employment Commission during the Feb. 20 filing week resumed its recent trend toward lower, pre-holiday season levels, according to figures released today.
For the filing week ending Feb. 20, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 11,944. While still elevated compared to recent months’ trends, the latest claims figure was a decrease of 2,957 claimants from the previous week.
Elevated levels in recent weeks may have, in part, reflected reapplications for benefits following the government’s renewal of supplemental benefits until March 14 as part of the latest stimulus package.
For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 64,575, which was a 3.1% increase from the previous week, and 42,082 higher than the 22,493 continued claims from the comparable week last year.
Over half of claims that had a self-reported industry were in the accommodation/food service, administrative and waste services, retail trade, and healthcare/social assistance industries.
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.
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