RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the number of continued claims was little changed, remaining at pre-pandemic levels during the most recent filing week.
For the filing week ending February 12, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,973. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 22 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in manufacturing, administrative and waste services, retail trade, and professional 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 7,238, which was an increase of 58 claims from the previous week and 88% lower than the 62,624 continued claims from the comparable week last year. 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.
For additional information on who is claiming unemployment insurance in Virginia, access the VEC’s U.I. claims data dashboard (https://www.vec.virginia.gov/ui-claims-dashboard) that is updated no later than the following Monday after the weekly claims press release.
In the week ending February 12, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 248,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 223,000 to 225,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 238,482 in the week ending February 12, an increase of 7,742 (or 3.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 835,045 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021. Looking at preliminary data, most states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Pennsylvania’s preliminary weekly change (-1,768) was the largest decrease. New Jersey’s preliminary weekly change (-1,073) was the second largest decrease. Wisconsin’s preliminary weekly change (-1,032) was the third largest decrease. Texas’s weekly change (-843) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (+169) was the tenth largest increase.
PDF of Press Release