October 19, 2023
Timothy Aylor
Senior Economist
Economic Information & Analytics Division
LMI@virginiaworks.gov
(804) 786-3976
Virginia Unemployment Insurance Weekly Initial Claims at 1,655; Manufacturing Leading Industry for Claims
~ Seasonally unadjusted weekly initial unemployment insurance claims up from the previous filing week, with continued claims little changed over that period ~
RICHMOND—The Department of Workforce Development and Advancement (DWDA) announced today that the number of initial unemployment insurance claims increased in the latest filing week to 1,655 and remained at typical pre-Pandemic volumes experienced in 2019.
For the filing week ending October 14, the figure for seasonally unadjusted initial claims in Virginia was 1,655, which was an increase of 277 claimants from the previous week. Continued weeks claimed totaled 12,355, which was five claims lower than the previous week but an increase of 100% from the 6,159 continued claims from the comparable week last year. An industry was reported for ninety-three percent of claimants. Of those, over half (53 percent) of continued claims were from professional, scientific, and technical services (1,865), administrative and support and waste management (1,673), manufacturing (1,461), and health care and social assistance (1,120). 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 October 14, the advance U.S. figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 198,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 209,000 to 211,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs[1], unadjusted, totaled 181,181 in the week ending October 14, a decrease of 18,561 (or -9.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 178,773 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022.
Looking at preliminary data, most U.S. states reported decreases on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Texas’s preliminary weekly change (-3,217) was the largest decrease. New York’s preliminary weekly change (-1,897) was the second largest decrease. California’s preliminary weekly change (-1,637) was the third largest decrease. New Jersey’s preliminary weekly change (-1,590) was the fourth largest decrease. Virginia had the second largest increase (+225).
[1] Note: Advance claims are not directly comparable to claims reported in prior weeks. Advance claims are reported by the state liable for paying the unemployment compensation, whereas previous weeks reported claims reflect claimants by state of residence. In addition, claims reported as "workshare equivalent" in the previous week are added to the advance claims as a proxy for the current week's "workshare equivalent" activity.
