RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the number of continued claims rose slightly but remained at pre-pandemic levels during the most recent filing week.
For the filing week ending May 7, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,370. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 562 claimants from the previous week. 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. Although the number of layoffs has been lower compared to a year ago, there was a significant layoff during the most recent filing week in professional and technical services.
For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 7,509, which was an increase of 256 claims from the previous week and was 87% lower than the 57,844 continued claims from the comparable week last year. Over half of continued claims that had a self-reported industry were in administrative and waste services, professional, scientific, and technical services, health care and social assistance, and retail.
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