Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Va. among highest in nation for jobless claims last week

Virginia had the fourth-highest increase in initial jobless claims in the nation last week, according to U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) statistics released Thursday.

The DOL statistics released Thursday morning shows that 33,069 Virginians filed initial jobless claims last week, while the VEC report released Thursday afternoon shows 31,825 initial claims. The DOL count is preliminary, while the VEC’s published number is the final count, says Timothy Aylor, VEC senior economist.

The discrepancy presents itself in cases in which people are employed in, but live in, different states, and can also occur when people have more than one job in more than one state. 

“The processing of interstate claims can be one source of the difference,” says Aylor.

Nationwide, more than 1.31 million people filed initial claims for unemployment last week, bringing the total of unemployed Americans to more than 50 million in the wake of the pandemic and economic crisis.

In Virginia, 378,607 people remain unemployed — an increase of 11,893 from the previous week. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits. 

In the past 16 weeks, there have been a total of 938,559 initial claims filed in Virginia, according to the VEC. This is more than the total amount of initial claims filed from mid-September 2014 to mid-March 2020. The VEC has paid a total of $5.7 billion in benefits since the pandemic began.

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 27:

  • Fairfax County, 2,307
  • Norfolk, 2,078
  • Richmond, 1,694
  • Virginia Beach, 1,665
  • Prince William County, 1,226
  • Portsmouth, 1,173
  • Newport News, 1,101
  • Chesapeake, 1,022
  • Henrico County, 957
  • Chesterfield County, 936

More than 41,000 individuals were contacted last week by the VEC regarding eligibility for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.

The VEC on July 2 launched an application portal for Virginians to access the PEUC program, which is provided by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The VEC has since paid out $9.9 million in PEUC benefits to more than 12,000 people. The program is available through the week ending Dec. 26. Forty-one states reported 850,461 individuals claiming PEUC last week.

States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on June 27 were Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Virginia and Kentucky, while the largest decreases were seen in Oklahoma, Florida, Maryland, Georgia and California.

U.S. claims were down by 99,000 from the week prior. For the week ending June 20, 47 states reported that nearly 14.3 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance. That’s 1.3 million more people than the week prior, with the same number of states reporting.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 12.4% for the week that ended June 27, a decrease of 0.5% from the previous week.

The states and U.S. territories with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on June 20 were Puerto Rico, Nevada, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, New York, California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Georgia and Connecticut.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

366K+ Virginians remain jobless

More than 366,000 Virginians are still unemployed following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and initial jobless claims rose by more than 6,000 last week.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced Thursday that 906,734 people have filed initial unemployment claims since March 15.

Nearly 32,000 Virginians filed initial claims last week, an increase of 6,662 from the week prior. In Virginia, 366,714 people remain unemployed, which is 346,917 more than the same week last year, which saw only 19,797 continued claims. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

“Jobless claims remain high as another 33,062 Virginians filed an initial claim for unemployment insurance last week,” Dominique Johnson, research associate at Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, said in a statement. “While the Virginia economy continues to show signs of improvement, even as other states reinstate lockdown measures due to recent spikes in COVID-19 cases, the uncertainty for Virginia’s economy in the coming months remains high.”

For the month of May, the unemployment rate in Virginia was 9.2%, compared to only 2.7% during May 2019, according to VEC statistics released Thursday

The 10 localities with the highest unemployment rates for May 2020 include:

  • Petersburg, 17.2%
  • Bath County, 15.8%
  • Martinsville, 14.7% 
  • Emporia, 14.5%
  • Hopewell, 13.9%
  • Covington, 13.8%
  • Danville, 12.7%
  • Pulaski County, 12.7%
  • Williamsburg, 12.6%
  • Newport News, 12.6%

Falls Church had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.9%, followed by Highland County, Madison County, Arlington, Poquoson, Richmond County, King George County, Nottoway County, Southampton County and Lunenburg County — each of which reported an unemployment rate lower than 7%.

Last week, 1.42 million people in the United States filed initial claims for unemployment, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released Thursday,  bringing the total of unemployed Americans to nearly 49 million in the wake of the pandemic and economic crisis.

U.S. claims were down by 55,000 from the week prior. For the week ending June 13, 47 states reported that nearly 13 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance.

Nonfarm payroll employment (goods, construction and manufacturing companies) in June increased by 4.8 million in the U.S. and the hospitality sector added 2.1 million jobs, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

“The June jobs report just happened to coincide with the trough of COVID-19 cases in the United States and likely represents a peak in activity given the surge in cases in late June and early July, Robert McNab, director of the Dragas Center, said in a statement. “While it is good news, there is a steep hill to climb.

“African-Americans and Hispanics continue to be disproportionately harmed by the COVID-19 recession and experience greater rates of hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19. We continue to project a long, slow and uncertain recovery.”

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 27:

  • Fairfax County, 2,509
  • Norfolk, 1,710
  • Richmond, 1,602
  • Virginia Beach, 1,447
  • Prince William County, 1,311
  • Newport News, 1,155
  • Henrico County, 1,004
  • Chesapeake, 955
  • Portsmouth, 923
  • Chesterfield County, 892

Thirty-nine states reported 749,703 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.2% for the week that ended June 20, unchanged from the previous week.

The states and U.S. territories with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on June 13 were Puerto Rico, Nevada, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, New York, California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Georgia and Connecticut.

States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on June 20 were California, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey and Indiana, while the largest decreases were seen in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Oregon, Georgia and New York.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

 

Virginia Employment Commission closes HQ due to COVID-19

The Virginia Employment Commission is temporarily closing its Richmond headquarters office after the fourth VEC employee in three months has tested positive for COVID-19, the VEC announced Tuesday. The closure affects  350 employees who work out of the Richmond office. 

VEC call centers and district offices have not been affected and will continue to process unemployment insurance claims, hold administrative hearings and respond to customers. However, approximately 1,000 people who receive a paper check as a method of unemployment payment may see a slight delay, according to the VEC. (About one-quarter of 1% of claimants receive paper checks.)

As of June 25, more than 375,000 Virginians remained unemployed. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

Employees assigned to the East Broad Street location will be required to work from home, although most had been teleworking already, according to the VEC. Employees at the headquarters location primarily work on internal agency functions such as procurement, information technology, finance and accounting. 

“Our employees have been working long hours for countless days as a result of the hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” VEC Commissioner Ellen Marie Hess said in a statement. “Most importantly, I want the people we serve to know that we understand how important it is to get their benefits as quickly as possible, and we remain dedicated to helping our fellow Virginians in this time of need.”

The East Broad Street office will undergo a thorough cleaning Tuesday night and the VEC will continue to encourage teleworking. After each COVID-19 case at a VEC office, each office was shut down and cleaned.

The VEC has received more claims during the pandemic than during the past five years combined — and has issued more than $5 billion in unemployment benefits since March. 

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Community colleges, businesses partner to get Virginians back to work

The Virginia Ready Initiative (VA Ready) announced Monday a program that will provide stipends for unemployed Virginians to attend community college programs in an effort to find new industry jobs and overcome coronavirus-related economic hardships.

“We have people who need work and companies who need employees, so Virginia’s community colleges and employers are coming together to help,” Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement. “If you choose a high-demand field, our community colleges will train you and then Virginia Ready will help you find a job and give you a $1,000 achievement award. This is one more way that Virginia is demonstrating that helping workers also helps business and our economy.”

VA Ready and its 20 Virginia business partners will provide $1,000 incentives for motivated, out-of-work Virginians to reskill for high-demand jobs by attending short-term community college programs. Participants would also be offered the opportunity to interview with participating Virginia companies. 

VA Ready aims to complement the Virginia Community College System’s existing FastForward program, which provides Virginians with the opportunity and training for middle-skill jobs. The VA Ready initiative will provide short-term training programs through Virginia’s 23 community colleges and will be funded through philanthropic donations and company contributions.

“With an average out-of-pocket cost of just over $1,000, our FastForward training programs are the most affordable option in higher education today and the fastest way for someone to skill-up for a career that offers family-sustaining wages,” VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois said in a statement. “But we know that price tag is still out of reach for too many people, especially the newly unemployed. We are pleased to work alongside VA Ready and its business partners to make those training opportunities more affordable and accessible — and get people back to work.”

Since the pandemic began, almost 875,000 Virginians have filed initial unemployment claims, with lower-wage earners and minority communities being the hardest-hit.

“Too many Virginians have lost their jobs, and they want to, and deserve help to, retool for in-demand jobs,” Glenn A. Youngkin, VA Ready co-founder and chairman, said in a statement. “The time is now to focus training efforts on equipping our workforce for Virginia’s dynamic sectors like technology, health care and the skilled trades. Virginia businesses in these sectors expect to hire tens of thousands of people in the coming years, and yet we have record unemployment. We need to get moving to get people ready.”

VA Ready’s founding partners, strategic partners and business partners include:

  • Carilion Clinic, Roanoke
  • Dominion Energy Inc.Richmond
  • Ernst & Young LLPlocations in McLean and Richmond
  • Genworth Financial, Richmond
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), locations in Arlington and Richmond
  • SAICReston
  • Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean
  • CoStar Grouplocation in Richmond
  • K12 Inc.Herndon
  • PerspectaChantilly
  • Sentara HealthcareNorfolk
  • 1901 Group, Reston
  • Bon Secours Richmond Health SystemRichmond
  • CNSIlocations in Tysons and Chesapeake
  • General Dynamics Corp.Reston
  • Harris WilliamsRichmond
  • Huntington Ingalls IndustriesNewport News
  • ManTech International Corp.Fairfax
  • Maximus Inc.Reston
  • Northrop Grumman Corp.Falls Church

“1901 Group looks forward to working closely with VA Ready to strengthen our economy, support career pathways and fulfill thousands of open positions by identifying, training and employing Virginians impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” 1901 Group CEO Sonu Singh said in a statement “VA Ready’s vision aligns closely with 1901 Group’s 10-year track record of developing sustainable IT jobs in regions such as Southwest Virginia.”

VA Ready business partners will consult college leaders to ensure program offerings will be relevant to industry needs. They will also participate in the VA Ready Job Exchange, providing job interview opportunities to those who go through the program.

The first VA Ready Scholars program will begin after Aug. 1.

“Virginia’s strength lies in its people, and so many people have come together over the past few weeks to stand up this new initiative so quickly,” VA Ready CEO Caren Merrick said in a statement.  “By working together, thousands of our out of work Virginians will be able to secure new jobs, and Virginia businesses will find more of the skilled workers they need.”

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

 

375K+ remain unemployed in Va. during pandemic

More than 375,000 Virginians are still unemployed following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, though the number of initial jobless claims across the commonwealth continues to decrease.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced Thursday that 874,779 people have filed initial unemployment claims since March 15. However, the total of initial claims for the week ending June 20 was the lowest since before the initial spike in unemployment insurance claims during the March 21 filing week, according to the VEC.

More than 25,000 Virginians filed initial claims, a decrease of nearly 1,900 from the week prior. However, 375,579 people remain unemployed in Virginia — 355,910 more than the same week last year, which saw only 19,669 continued claims. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

“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,” VEC Economist Timothy Aylor said in a statement. “Continued claims during the June 20 filing week equaled 43% of all initial claims filed during the pandemic to this point. This percentage has trended downward in recent weeks.”

The VEC last week, however, reported that more than 12,000 Virginians who have filed jobless claims during the pandemic have refused to return to work, while there are approximately 400,000 job vacancies posted on the Virginia Workforce Connection website. According to the VEC, many of these are cases in which an employer disputed an applicant’s reason for being out of work.

The VEC reminds Virginians that those who are called back to work must generally return and that, under law, an employer is not required to keep a position open for an employee who refuses to go back to work. If a claimant received an overpayment of benefits, they’ll be required to pay it back. Employers can report employees who refuse to return to work through the VEC website.

Last week, 1.48 million people in the United States filed initial claims for unemployment, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics released Thursday,  bringing the total of unemployed Americans to approximately 47.5 million in the wake of the pandemic and economic crisis.

U.S. claims were down by 60,000 from last week. For the week ending June 6, 46 states reported that more than 11 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance. 

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 20:

  • Fairfax County, 2,212
  • Norfolk, 1,224
  • Richmond, 1,214
  • Prince William County, 1,135
  • Virginia Beach, 1,120
  • Newport News, 795
  • Chesterfield County, 754
  • Chesapeake, 728
  • Henrico County, 718
  • Portsmouth, 700

Thirty-eight states reported 851,983 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.4% for the week that ended June 13, a 0.5% decrease from the previous week.

The states and U.S. territories with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on June 6 were Nevada, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New York, California, Michigan, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Virgin Island and Connecticut.

States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on June 13 were Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey, New York and Louisiana, while the largest decreases were seen in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, California and Michigan.

View more unemployment information via VEC’s unemployment claims data dashboard below:

 

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

 

VCU-Ariz. State survey shows increased labor market activity

As states have begun to reopen for business, the national labor market has seen an increase in activity during the past two weeks, according to a biweekly survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University and Arizona State University economists.

However, the 2.3% decrease in the national unemployment rate (which was estimated at 19.4% for the week of June 7 and 21.7% the last week in May) was driven mostly by individuals who are working for a new employer instead of returning to their former employer, according to survey results. 

“Virtually all states have begun to reopen their economies. But crucial questions remain about the kind of labor market recovery we are likely to see,” said Adam Blandin, the VCU School of Business assistant professor who conducted the survey with Alexander Bick, an associate economics professor at Arizona State. “Will we see a V-shaped recovery, where employment declines sharply, but then recovers almost as quickly? Or will we see an L-shaped recovery, where employment declines sharply and then does not recover for several years?

“Our estimates provide a preliminary view of labor market conditions, and suggest that the answer is somewhere in between these two stories,” Blandin said in a statement. “Specifically, employment has increased notably in the last month, but still remains well below its pre-crisis level.”

The most recent survey results also show that among those who had been employed in February, 36.5% of them have experienced a loss in earnings, but roughly one-third of those earning less are still working.

Real Time Population Survey results are released every other week to reduce an information lag, as U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics labor market figures are collected once a month and published with a three-week delay.

The survey closely follows the methodology of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey. Blandin and Bick have made improvements with each survey wave and plan to continue refining their methodology going forward.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

12K+ Virginians refuse to return to work amid pandemic

More than 12,000 Virginians who have filed jobless claims during the pandemic have refused to return to work, the Virginia Employment Commission announced Friday, while there are approximately 400,000 job vacancies posted on the Virginia Workforce Connection website.

“While certain circumstances, such as health, child care or other caregiver responsibilities, may warrant continued payments of unemployment benefits to a claimant who has refused to return to work, the payments will be paused pending the outcome of an administrative review,” the VEC said in a statement. For those refusing to return to work as COVID-19-related restrictions are lifted during Gov. Ralph Northam’s Forward Virginia phased reopening plan, unemployment benefits will be suspended. 

More than 79,000 claims are pending administrative review. According to the VEC, many of these are cases in which an employer disputed an applicant’s reason for being out of work.

Since March 15, the VEC has received 849,486 initial claims for unemployment benefits and approved and issued payments to 75% of claimants. In total, the VEC distributed more than $4.2 billion to people who filed claims during the pandemic. Just last week, more than 27,000 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment. 

Continued jobless claims in Virginia last week were at 386,893. People receiving unemployment benefits through VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

The VEC reminds Virginians that those who are called back to work must generally go back and that, under law, an employer is not required to keep a position open for an employee who refuses to return to work. If a claimant received an overpayment of benefits, they’ll be required to pay them back.

“Through the new federal programs, as well as through executive action by Gov. Ralph Northam, eligibility criteria for unemployment benefits have expanded,” the VEC statement reads. “Nevertheless, not all applicants qualify for payment.”

Employers can report employees who refuse to return to work through the VEC website.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

386K+ remain unemployed in Va. during pandemic

UPDATED 4 P.M. FRIDAY | More than 386,000 Virginians are still unemployed following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, though the number of initial jobless claims across the commonwealth continues to decrease.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced Thursday that 849,486 initial unemployment claims have been filed since March 15. Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May was 9.4%, the VEC reported Friday. This is 6.6% greater than the rate from last May. 

However, the VEC reports that private sector employment increased by more than 40,000 jobs, while there were nearly 21,000 fewer public sector jobs. Government employment saw the most significant job loss during the month of April.

About 27,000 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment last week, down from roughly 29,000 the prior week, according to the VEC. The state’s weekly unemployment numbers have continued to decline since peaking in early April, when 147,369 Virginians filed initial jobless claims in a single week. Last week there were 2,045 fewer claimants. 

However, 386,893 people remain unemployed in Virginia — 367,430 more than the same week last year, which saw only 19,463 continued claims. People receiving unemployment benefits through VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

“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,” VEC Economist Timothy Aylor said in a statement. “Continued claims during the June 13 filing week equaled 46% of all initial claims filed during the pandemic to this point. This percentage has trended downward in recent weeks.”

More than 1.5 million people in the United States filed initial claims for unemployment last week, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, bringing the total of unemployed Americans to approximately 46 million in the wake of the economic crisis.

Last week’s U.S. claims were down by 58,000. In the week ending May 30, 44 states reported that 9.28 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance. 

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 13:

  • Fairfax County, 2,415
  • Richmond, 1,284
  • Virginia Beach, 1,235
  • Prince William County, 1,218
  • Norfolk, 1,082
  • Newport News, 854
  • Chesterfield County, 844
  • Henrico County, 792
  • Chesapeake, 770
  • Loudoun County, 762

The largest year-over-year job loss occurred in the hospitality industry, which has lost more than 150,000 jobs, according to the VEC. The next largest job losses have happened in transportation and trade, education and health services and government.

Thirty-five states reported 1.07 million individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.1% for the week that ended June 6, unchanged from the previous week.

The states with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on May 30 were Nevada, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, California, Rhode Island, Louisiana and Massachusetts.

States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on June 6 were California, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland, while the largest decreases were seen in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Michigan and Maine.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Va. launches platform to connect people to jobs, education

With more than 400,000 Virginians unemployed, the state has launched a platform designed to connect people to educational and work opportunities broken down by region, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday.

The Virginia Career Works Referral Portal connects people to training, certification, education and employment services to aid in job search and career development. Users can also access programs such as interview and resume workshops. 

“Workers and families across Virginia are experiencing tremendous financial pain, as well as coping, in many cases, with the devastation of getting sick or losing a loved one to COVID-19,” Northam said in a statement. “This ongoing health crisis requires our government systems to respond faster and with more flexibility than ever before. This strategic investment in our workforce technology infrastructure puts the commonwealth in a stronger position to help Virginians get back on their feet and overcome these unprecedented challenges.”

The state had already been developing a new workforce development system before the pandemic began, but officials hastened the process after seeing record-setting unemployment numbers throughout the spring. 

“By making the full spectrum of services accessible through one virtual door, we are bringing every resource to the table to help Virginians recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Megan Healy, the state’s chief workforce development adviser.

The portal is a cloud-based system that uses open-source software supported by the Massachusetts-based Apache Software Foundation, a nonprofit community of developers that created the Apache HTTP Server in 1995, the world’s most used server.

“This scalable, standards-driven system is an important addition to Virginia’s growing information technology ecosystem,” Chief Data Officer Carlos Rivero said in a statement. “In addition to its immediate benefits, this collaboratively built solution provides a future-proofed foundation for continuing development.”

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

396K+ Virginians remain unemployed during pandemic

Nearly 400,000 Virginians are still unemployed following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, though the number of initial jobless claims across the commonwealth continues to decrease.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced Thursday that 822,300 initial unemployment claims have been filed since March 15, with approximately 75% of these claims having been approved and received payment. More than $3.8 billion has been distributed to people who have lost wages during the pandemic.

About 29,000 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment last week, down from roughly 31,000 the prior week, according to the VEC. The state’s weekly unemployment numbers have continued to decline since peaking in early April, when 147,369 Virginians filed initial jobless claims in a single week. Last week there were 2,148 fewer claimants.

However, 396,056 people remain unemployed in Virginia — 376,977 more than the same week last year, which saw only 19,079 continued claims. People receiving unemployment benefits through VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

“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,” VEC Economist Timothy Aylor said in a statement. “Continued claims during the June 6 filing week equaled 48% of all initial claims filed during the pandemic to this point. This percentage has trended downward in recent weeks.”

More than 1.5 million people in the United States filed initial claims for unemployment last week, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, bringing the total of unemployed Americans to nearly 44.5 million in the wake of the economic crisis.

Last week’s U.S. claims were down by 355,000. In the week ending May 23, 42 states reported that 9.7 million people are claiming federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides temporary benefits for people who are not eligible for regular or traditional unemployment insurance. For the most recent filing week, 201,362 Virginians filed these claims, according to the VEC — 7,691 of which were initial claims.

The regions of the state that have been most impacted continue to be Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. 

Below are the top 10 localities, listed by number of initial unemployment claims, for the week ending June 6:

  • Fairfax County, 2,745
  • Prince William County, 1,414
  • Richmond, 1,319
  • Virginia Beach, 1,236
  • Norfolk, 1,139
  • Henrico County, 969
  • Chesterfield County, 965
  • Loudoun County, 910
  • Newport News, 888
  • Chesapeake, 740

Thirty-two states reported 518,942 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides up to an additional 13 weeks of regular or traditional unemployment insurance benefits to those who have exhausted their eligibility.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.4% for the week that ended May 30, a 0.2% decrease from the previous week.

The states with the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending on May 23 were Maine, Nevada, Michigan, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

States with the largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended on May 30 were Florida, California, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, while the largest decreases were seen in New York, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.