RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the number of initial claims was nearly two thirds lower during the most recent filing week.

For the filing week ending December 25th—amid processing system changes over the last month—the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,204. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 2,183 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in the accommodation and food services, administrative and waste services, construction and manufacturing industries. 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 4,904, which was a decrease of 39,366 claims from the previous week and 89% lower than the 63,443 continued claims from the comparable week last year. 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.

In the week ending December 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was s 198,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 205,000 to 206,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 256,146 in the week ending December 25, an increase of 1,125 (or 0.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 823,788 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. Looking at preliminary data, more states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. California’s preliminary weekly change   (-6,600) was the largest decrease. Texas’s preliminary weekly change (-4,304) was the second largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (-2,058) was the third largest decrease. Oklahoma’s weekly change (-1,418) was the fourth largest decrease. Alabama’s preliminary weekly change (-1,414) was the fifth largest decrease.