Va. saw slight decline in initial jobless claims last week

67K Virginians remain unemployed, however

Published January 28, 2021 by Sydney Lake

Initial unemployment insurance claimants by county and city weeks ending Jan. 23 over Jan. 16 change. Green shows a decrease, yellow shows an increase of 1 to 10 claimants and red shows an increase of 11 to 50 claimants. Graphic courtesy Virginia Employment Commission

Virginia saw a 13.1% drop in the number of initial jobless claims filed last week compared to the previous week, but unemployment remains high across the state, according to figures released by the Virginia Employment Commission on Thursday.

The week ending Jan. 23 saw 18,312 Virginians filing initial unemployment claims, a decrease of 2,761 claimants from the previous week, when 21,073 people filed new claims.

“Elevated levels in recent weeks may have, in part, reflected seasonal spikes in layoffs often seen after the holidays, as well as 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, 67,298 Virginians remained unemployed, a 5.4% increase from the previous week and 45,637 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 hospitality, administrative, waste service, retail and health care 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. 23:

Fairfax County, 920
Richmond, 855
Norfolk, 840
Virginia Beach, 832
Prince William County, 651
Chesapeake, 490
Alexandria, 468
Portsmouth, 448
Newport News, 391
Hampton, 366

Nationwide, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for last week was 847,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. There were 229,002 initial claims during the same week last year.