RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced today that the number of initial claims decreased in the latest filing week to 1,563 and remained at levels typically seen over the last twelve months.

For the filing week ending April 1, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,563, which was a decrease of 313 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims with a self-reported industry were from administrative and support and waste management services; professional, scientific, and technical services; health care and social assistance; retail trade; and manufacturing. Continued weeks claimed totaled 11,823, which was an increase of 65 claims from the previous week and an increase of 76% from the 6,707 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 April 1, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted[1] initial claims was 228,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 48,000 from 198,000 to 246,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 206,931 in the week ending April 1, a decrease of 17,262 (or -7.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 194,671 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022.

Looking at preliminary data, most U.S. states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. California’s preliminary weekly change (-6,337) was the largest decrease. Kentucky’s weekly change (-3,904) was the second largest decrease. Michigan’s preliminary weekly change (-3,333) was the third largest decrease. Ohio’s weekly change (-2,660) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (-102) was the 23^rd largest decrease.