For Release:
September 30, 2021
Contact:
Timothy Aylor
Senior Economist
Economic Information & Analytics Division
timothy.aylor@vec.virginia.gov
(804) 786-3976

Virginia’s Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims for Week Ending September 25th

~ Seasonally unadjusted weekly initial unemployment insurance claims fell sharply from the previous filing week as continued claims rose during that period ~

RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the number of initial claims filed retreated from recent elevated levels during the most recent filing week.

For the filing week ending September 25, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 8,717. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 7,245 claimants from the previous week. After last weeks' sharp increase, filings reverted to prior weeks’ levels.

For the most recent filing week, continued weeks claimed totaled 47,241, which was an increase of 9,672 claims from the previous week and 73% lower than the 173,713 continued claims from the comparable week last year. Over half of claims that had a self-reported industry were in the health care and social assistance, retail trade, administrative and waste services, and accommodation and food services industries. 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.

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Nationwide, in the week ending September 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 362,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 351,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 298,255 in the week ending September 25, a decrease of 8,326 (or -2.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 732,912 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. Looking at preliminary data, more states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (-6,718) was the largest decrease. Maryland’s preliminary weekly change (-6,333) was the second largest decrease. Arizona’s preliminary weekly change (-4,405) was the third largest decrease. Louisiana’s was the fourth largest decrease (-3,597). Ohio’s decrease (-3,443) was the fifth largest weekly increase. California’s preliminary weekly change (+17,978) was the largest increase.

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