RICHMOND—The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) announced today that the number of initial claims decreased in the latest filing week to 2,621 and remained at the typical pre-Pandemic volumes experienced in 2019.

For the filing week ending May 13, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 2,621, which was a decrease of 715 claimants from the previous week. Over half of initial claims with a self-reported industry were from professional, scientific, and technical services; manufacturing; administrative and support services and waste management; and accommodation and food services. Continued weeks claimed totaled 12,724, which was essentially unchanged from the previous week but an increase of 50% from the 8,511 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 May 13, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 242,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 264,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 215,810 in the week ending May 13, a decrease of 18,605 (or -7.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 199,631 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022. Looking at preliminary data, most U.S. states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Massachusetts’s preliminary weekly change (-14,042) was the largest decrease. Missouri’s weekly change (-2,328) was the second largest decrease. New Jersey’s preliminary weekly change (-1,134) was the third largest decrease. Arizona’s weekly change (-844) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia’s preliminary weekly change (-609) was the eighth largest decrease.