RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced that the number of continued claims was essentially unchanged, holding at their highest level since the end of 2021 during the most recent filing week.

For the filing week ending August 20, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 2,814. The latest claims figure was a decrease of 169 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims that had a self-reported industry were in health care and social assistance, retail trade, manufacturing, administrative and support and waste management, and professional, scientific and technical services. Continued weeks claimed totaled 12,543, which was an increase of 44 claims from the previous week but was two thirds lower than the 37,075 continued claims from the comparable week last year.

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.

In the week ending August 20, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 243,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 5,000 from 250,000 to 245,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 184,414 in the week ending August 20, a decrease of 3,039 (or -1.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 298,791 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021. Looking at preliminary data, the majority of U.S. states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. New Jersey’s preliminary weekly change (-1,536) was the largest decrease. California’s weekly change (-1,312) was the second largest decrease. Indiana’s preliminary weekly change (-1,206) was the third largest decrease. Michigan’s weekly change (-765) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (+52) was the 13th largest increase.