RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced today that the number of initial claims edged slightly lower in the latest filing week to 1,829 and remained at levels typically seen over the last twelve months.

For the filing week ending February 4, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,829, which was a decrease of 91 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims with a self-reported industry were from administrative and support and waste management; professional, scientific, and technical services; construction; retail trade; and health care and social assistance. Continued weeks claimed totaled 11,699, which was an increase of 75 claims from the previous week and an increase of 63% from the 7,180 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 February 4, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 196,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 183,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 234,654 in the week ending February 4, an increase of 9,628 (or 4.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 230,740 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022. Looking at preliminary data, most U.S. states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Georgia’s preliminary weekly change (-1,665) was the largest decrease. New Jersey’s weekly change (-1,440) was the second largest decrease. Texas’s preliminary weekly change (-1,062) was the third largest decrease. Arkansas’s weekly change (-772) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (+154) was the 16^th largest increase.