Va. new jobless claims up, while continued claims decline

Virginia’s new unemployment claims rose to 8,196 in the filing week ending June 26, but continued claims decreased, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday.

Last week saw an increase of 1,291 initial jobless claims from the previous week, while continued claims totaled 40,225, a decrease of 2,653 claims from a week ago.

This time a year ago, 31,955 people filed new unemployment claims, 74.3% more than last week, while 366,714 people filed continued claims, 89% more than last week. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.

More than half of the claimants who filed for benefits last week (and the prior four weeks) reported being in these industries: accommodations/food service; administrative and waste services; retail; and health care and social assistance.

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

Nationwide, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims last week was 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There were 1,426,894 initial claims during the same week last year. Virginia saw the fifth-largest one-week increase in initial claims in the country last week, as many states reported decreases in claims.