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

For the filing week ending October 9, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 10,040. The latest claims figure was an increase of 680 claimants from the previous week. Due to the holiday, this is a state estimate. 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 43,535, which was a decrease of 484 claims from the previous week and 69% lower than the 142,220 continued claims from the comparable week last year. Due to the holiday, this is a state estimate. Over half of claims that had a self-reported industry were in the accommodation and food services industries, health care and social assistance, retail trade, and administrative and waste services. 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.

Nationwide, in the week ending October 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 293,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 326,000 to 329,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 277,632 in the week ending October 9, an increase of 16,017 (or 6.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 822,205 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. Looking at preliminary data, more states reported increases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. California’s preliminary weekly change (+3,214) was the largest increase. Michigan’s preliminary weekly change (+3,171) was the second largest increase. Missouri’s preliminary weekly change (+2,211) was the third largest increase. New Mexico’s was the fourth largest increase (+2,135). Maryland’s increase (+1,666) was the fifth largest weekly increase. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (+680) was the tenth largest increase. Florida had the largest decrease (-1,519).