For Release:
April 4, 2024
Contact:
Virginia Works
Economic Information & Analytics Division
LMI@virginiaworks.gov
(804) 786-7496

Virginia’s Latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Initial Claims at 2,081; Continued Claims at 15,302

RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,081 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 30, 2024, which is 0.8 percent lower than last week's 2,098 claims and 33.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (1,563).  Nearly 83 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (60 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (236); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (232); Manufacturing (197); Health Care and Social Assistance (184); and Retail Trade (166).

Continued weeks claims (15,302) were 1.3 percent lower than last week (15,497) and were 29.4 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (11,823). Nearly 93 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (56 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2,258); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,069); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,311); Manufacturing (1,248); and Retail Trade (1,165).

Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:

WARN Notices | Virginia Employment Commission

Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership

Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity

 

Week Ending

03/30/2024

Week Ending

03/23/2024

Week Ending

03/16/2024

Last Year

04/01/2023

Initial Claims

2,081

2,098

1,904

1,563

Initial Change (%)

-17 (-0.8%)

+194 (+10.2%)

-325 (-14.6%)

+518 (+33.1%)

Continued Claims

15,302

15,497

15,612

11,823

 
 
 

Virginia Continued Weeks Claimed

Initial Claims for All States

In the week ending March 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 210,000 to 212,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 196,376 in the week ending March 30, an increase of 2,455 (or 1.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 5,304 (or 2.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 195,200 initial claims in the comparable week in 2023. 

Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases)
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

 

State

Initial Claims (this week)

Initial Claims (prior week)

Change

Texas

13,767

17,044

-3,277

Missouri

2,975

5,451

-2,476

Georgia

3,344

4,447

-1,103

Arkansas

1,031

1,556

-525

North Carolina

2,590

3,072

-482

 

Initial State Claims (5 largest increases)
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

 

State

Initial Claims (this week)

Initial Claims (prior week)

Change

California

43,418

40,890

2,528

 

Pennsylvania

11,396

9,498

1,898

 

Iowa

3,021

1,527

1,494

 

Illinois

9,510

8,268

1,242

 

Wisconsin

5,609

4,429

1,180