Va. initial jobless claims remain high

More than 18K Virginians filed initial claims last week

Published February 4, 2021 by Sydney Lake

Initial jobless claims filed last week were essentially unchanged compared with the previous week, but remain high compared with pre-pandemic levels, according to figures released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

During the week ending Jan. 30, 18,177 Virginians filed initial unemployment claims (compared to 18,312 from the week prior). 

“Elevated levels in recent weeks may have, in part, reflected reapplications for benefits following the government’s renewal of supplemental benefits until March 14 as part of the latest stimulus package,” according to the VEC.

Last week, 67,337 Virginians remained unemployed, a 0.1% increase from the previous week and 45,074 higher than the same period in 2020. People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits. Most of the claims that had a self-reported industry were in the accommodation/food service, administrative and waste services, retail trade and health care and social assistance industries, according to the VEC.

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 Jan. 30:

• Fairfax County, 838
• Virginia Beach, 807
• Norfolk, 799
• Richmond, 795
• Prince William County, 664
• Alexandria, 479
• Newport News, 449
• Chesapeake, 427
• Hampton, 378
• Portsmouth, 372

Nationwide, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for last week was 779,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There were 224,664 initial claims during the same week last year.

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