Virginia: New unemployment claims up 14.1 percent last week

The Virginia Employment Commission reported that new unemployment claims were up 14.1 percent last week.

For the filing week ending May 28, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,376. The latest claims figure was an increase of 170 claimants from the previous week.

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

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 9,426, which was a decrease of 138 claims from the previous week and was 82 percent lower than the 52,228 continued claims from the comparable week last year.