80k+ Virginians filed jobless claims last week

Virginia unemployment filings down almost 21% from previous week

Published April 23, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Map of unemployment insurance claimants during the week ending April 18. Initial unemployment claims data were summed by zip code. The dots do not show precise locations within the zip code area. Map produced by Virginia Employment Commission, Economic Information & Analytics Division.

More than 80,000 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment last week, down nearly 21% from the previous week, according to a news release issued Thursday by Virginia Unemployment Commission.

During the week that ended April 18, Virginia saw 82,729 workers file for unemployment, bringing the most recent five-week total for jobless claims to 493,501 — more than the total number of initial unemployment claims filed during the last three economic recessions combined, according to the VEC.

Despite this, there were 21,000 fewer claimants than the previous week.

“The 20.9% decrease indicates that initial claims volumes may have peaked during the April 4 filing week, even as they remained stratospheric compared to historical trends,” VEC Economist Timothy Aylor said in a statement.

The number of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the U.S. during the week that ended April 18 was 4.427 million — 810,000 fewer than the week before, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. Most states showed decreases in claims from the most recent week.

The hospitality industry is still the largest occupational group impacted by the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19 pandemic. Other occupations that have high unemployment numbers include office and administrative support, personal care, sales and management, among others.