Change in week-to-week new unemployment claims in Virginia, issued April 15, 2021 by the Virginia Employment Commission.
About 5,000 Virginians filed initial unemployment claims for the week ending April 10, a 95% decrease from this time a year ago when jobless claims were near their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week’s 5,034 new claims were 466% lower than the previous week’s, when 28,526 people filed, according to the Virginia Employment Commission’s Thursday report.
The number of continued claims filed last week — 57,371 — stayed close to the same number as the previous week, 57,344, although much lower than this time last year, when 236,791 people filed continued unemployment claims.
People receiving unemployment benefits through the VEC must file weekly unemployment claims in order to continue receiving benefits.
