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RICHMOND, VA – Virginia employers in high-demand industries seeking highly trained workers had a significant opportunity to grow their workforce through the Virginia Works HIRED Fund. This initiative provided eligible employers the chance to apply for up to $6,000 per apprentice to support the training and development of their workforce through registered apprenticeship programs.
Registered apprenticeship is thought of as the “ultimate earn while you learn opportunity” for individuals looking to gain valuable skills while earning a progressive wage. For employers, it is a proven, cost-effective, and industry-focused approach to cultivating a highly skilled and dedicated workforce tailored to their specific needs.
This funding aimed to further expand apprenticeship opportunities across the Commonwealth and empower businesses to build robust talent pipelines. The HIRED Grant has demonstrated its impact with 28 Sponsor awardees successfully onboarding 47 new apprentices.
Employers in high-demand sectors were encouraged to take advantage of this valuable funding opportunity to train the skilled workers they needed for success. Stay tuned for additional funding windows in the future!
RICHMOND, VA – Virginia Works, Virginia Career Works, and the Virginia Employment Commission are pleased to announce a dynamic virtual event designed to connect jobseekers with Registered Apprenticeship Sponsors in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The inaugural Registered Apprenticeship Expo will take place on April 30th from 10 am to 2 pm.
This initiative offers a valuable opportunity for employers to engage with prospective apprentices and highlight the benefits of Registered Apprenticeship as a proven strategy for workforce development. Participating sponsors will have the ability to staff a virtual “booth,” chat and conduct 1:1 video interviews with job seekers, deliver webinar-style presentations about their organizations, and directly follow up with interested candidates through their tracking systems.
Prior to the big day, sponsors will need to create job postings for their booth, select relevant categories for their booth in the virtual lobby, review registered jobseeker attendees, and set their availability for scheduled video meetings. Sponsors can also personalize their virtual booth so potential apprentices can more easily identify logos and branding.
Virginia Works is committed to supporting structured training and industry needs in the Commonwealth. Register here today! If you have any other questions, please email Hiring.Events@virginiaworks.sitevision.com.
RICHMOND — Virginia Works announced today that 2,881 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 01, 2025, which is 16.5 percent higher than last week’s 2,473 claims and 32.5 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,174). Nearly 72 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (60 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (390); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (218); Retail Trade (217); Health Care and Social Assistance (176); and Manufacturing (162).
Continued weeks claims
(17,671) were 2.8 percent lower than last week (18,179) and were 11.7 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,827). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (58 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2,822); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,138); Construction (1,576); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,523); and Manufacturing (1,354).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership
| Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity | ||||
| Week Ending 03/01/2025 | Week Ending 02/22/2025 | Week Ending 02/15/2025 | Last Year 03/02/2024 | |
| Initial Claims | 2,881 | 2,473 | 2,899 | 2,174 |
| Initial Change (%) | +408 (+16.5%) | -426 (-14.7%) | -303 (-9.5%) | +707 (+32.5%) |
| Continued Claims | 17,671 | 18,179 | 17,579 | 15,827 |
Virginia Continued Weeks Claimed
A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. On a weekly basis, continued claims reflect a good approximation of the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits, and are a good indicator of labor market conditions. While continued claims are not a leading indicator, they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the economy.
The color-coded map below shows the distribution of this week’s continued claims for Virginia’s counties and cities.
Yellow represents low numbers, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green signify increasing numbers of continued claims. The legend located at the bottom provides the color spectrum and its corresponding count of continued claims.
Initial Claims for All States
In the week ending March 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 242,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 224,689 in the week ending March 1, an increase of 3,833 (or 1.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 25,158 (or 11.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 214,424 initial claims in the comparable week in 2024.
| Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| Massachusetts | 5,267 | 9,256 | -3,989 |
| Rhode Island | 987 | 2,990 | -2,003 |
| Michigan | 5,627 | 7,559 | -1,932 |
| Illinois | 10,057 | 11,066 | -1,009 |
| New Jersey | 8,832 | 9,761 | -929 |
| Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| New York | 30,166 | 14,538 | 15,628 |
| Texas | 16,147 | 14,541 | 1,606 |
| Kentucky | 2,921 | 2,023 | 898 |
| Arkansas | 1,417 | 870 | 547 |
| New Hampshire | 896 | 400 | 496 |
All States Initial Weeks Claimed
An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country.
Below is a color-coded map illustrating the percentage change in initial claims from last week to this week across all states nationwide, derived from the latest U.S Department of Labor Weekly Claims News Release (https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf). Green denotes a reduction in continued claims from last week, thus showing improvement, with progressively darker shades of green signifying greater improvement. Purple denotes an increase in continued claims from last week, thus showing deterioration, with progressively darker shades of purple signifying greater deterioration. Very light green, purple or white indicates minimal change from last week. The legend at the bottom provides the color spectrum along with its corresponding percentage value.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,473 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending February 22, 2025, which is 14.7 percent lower than last week’s 2,899 claims and 23.9 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (1,996). Nearly 70 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (362); Health Care and Social Assistance (183); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (179); Retail Trade (178); and Accommodation and Food Services (135).
Continued weeks claims (18,179) were 3.4 percent higher than last week (17,579) and were 15.5 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,736). Nearly 91 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (58 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2,725); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,196); Manufacturing (1,610); Construction (1,596); and Health Care and Social Assistance (1,536).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership
| Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity | ||||
| Week Ending 02/22/2025 | Week Ending 02/15/2025 | Week Ending 02/08/2025 | Last Year 02/24/2024 | |
| Initial Claims | 2,473 | 2,899 | 3,202 | 1,996 |
| Initial Change (%) | -426 (-14.7%) | -303 (-9.5%) | +596 (+22.9%) | +477 (+23.9%) |
| Continued Claims | 18,179 | 17,579 | 17,288 | 15,736 |
Virginia Continued Weeks Claimed
A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. On a weekly basis, continued claims reflect a good approximation of the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits, and are a good indicator of labor market conditions. While continued claims are not a leading indicator, they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the economy. The color-coded map below shows the distribution of this week’s continued claims for Virginia’s counties and cities. Yellow represents low numbers, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green signify increasing numbers of continued claims. The legend located at the bottom provides the color spectrum and its corresponding count of continued claims.
Initial Claims for All States
In the week ending February 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 242,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 219,000 to 220,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 220,541 in the week ending February 22, a decrease of 2,997 (or 1.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 22,464 (or 10.0 percent) from the previous week. There were 195,774 initial claims in the comparable week in 2024.
| Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| Kentucky | 2,119 | 5,097 | -2,978 |
| Tennessee | 3,092 | 5,658 | -2,566 |
| California | 42,849 | 45,015 | -2,166 |
| Washington | 5,930 | 7,849 | -1,919 |
| Texas | 14,407 | 15,718 | -1,311 |
| Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| Massachusetts | 9,179 | 5,448 | 3,731 |
| Rhode Island | 2,964 | 909 | 2,055 |
| Illinois | 11,028 | 9,527 | 1,501 |
| Wisconsin | 5,763 | 4,671 | 1,092 |
| Iowa | 3,073 | 2,213 | 860 |
All States Initial Weeks Claimed
An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country.
Below is a color-coded map illustrating the percentage change in initial claims from last week to this week across all states nationwide, derived from the latest U.S Department of Labor Weekly Claims News Release (https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf). Green denotes a reduction in continued claims from last week, thus showing improvement, with progressively darker shades of green signifying greater improvement. Purple denotes an increase in continued claims from last week, thus showing deterioration, with progressively darker shades of purple signifying greater deterioration. Very light green, purple or white indicates minimal change from last week. The legend at the bottom provides the color spectrum along with its corresponding percentage value.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works (the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement) announced today that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ December 2024 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reports steady conditions in Virginia unemployment and job openings.
According to the most recent BLS JOLTS survey data, the number of December 2024 job hires in Virginia increased by 8,000 over the month but were eight percent lower than a year earlier. BLS JOLTS data provides information on all the pieces that go into the net change in the number of jobs. These components include job openings, hires, layoffs, voluntary quits, and other job separations (including retirements and worker deaths). Putting those components together reveals the overall change in payroll employment. JOLTS data is seasonally adjusted and describes conditions on the last business day of the month. Current month’s data are preliminary and the previous month’s data have been revised.
On the last business day in December, there were 253,000 job openings in Virginia, seasonally adjusted, a decrease of 33,000 from November’s revised figure. Nationwide, the number of job openings decreased to 7.6 million (-556,000) on the last business day of December and was down by 1.3 million over the year. The number of job openings decreased in professional and business services (-225,000), health
are and social assistance (-180,000), and finance and insurance (-136,000). Job openings increased in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+65,000). Large increases in the job openings level occurred in California (-117,000), Florida (-73,000), and Colorado (-39,000). In Virginia, the December job openings rate fell to 5.6 percent, a decrease from November’s revised rate. The job openings rate was 4.5 percent in December 2024, decreasing 0.8 percentage point from 5.3 percent a year earlier, in December 2023. Among major industries, job openings rates in December 2024 were 2.5 percent in construction and wholesale trade and 6.4 percent in professional and business services. Nationwide, the largest decreases in job openings rates occurred in Colorado (-1.2 percentage points) and Maryland (-0.8 point), as well as in Florida and Virginia (-0.7 point each).
The number of hires in Virginia rose to 152,000 in December, an increase of 8,000 over the month but down by 13,000 from December 2023. JOLTS defines hires as all additions to the payroll during the month. In December, the number of U.S. hires changed little at 5.5 million but was down by 325,000 over the year. Hires increased in finance and insurance (+48,000). Significant increases in the hires level occurred in Pennsylvania (+32,000) and in Utah (+16,000). In Virginia, the 3.6 hires rate edged up from November’s revised 3.4 percent rate. The U.S. hires rate remained unchanged at 3.4 percent over the month. Large increases in the hires rates occurred in Utah (+0.9 percentage point) and in Pennsylvania (+0.5 point).
The Virginia hires-per-job-openings (HPJO) ratio was little changed at six hires for every ten job openings, lower than nationwide. This measure shows the rate of hiring compared to open jobs and is a proxy for time to fill positions.
In December 2024, there were 0.5 unemployed per job opening in the Commonwealth, compared to 0.9 unemployed per job opening nationwide. There were 7.6 million job openings in the United States in December 2024, a number not much different than the number of unemployed people, resulting in a ratio of 0.9 unemployed persons per job opening. North Dakota and South Dakota each had 0.4 unemployed persons per job opening and Vermont and Virginia each had 0.5 unemployed persons per job opening. There were 1.3 unemployed persons per job opening in Michigan and Nevada, and 1.7 in California.
Total job separations in Virginia decreased by 3,000 to 139,000. The number of total separations nationwide in December was little changed at 5.3 million. The largest increases occurred in Texas (+127,000), New Jersey (+33,000), and South Carolina (+16,000). The decreases occurred in California (-131,000), Florida (-48,000), and Colorado (-22,000). The Virginia total separations rate was unchanged at 3.3 percent, remaining at levels seen in recent months. The U.S. total separations rate remained unchanged at 3.3 percent over the month. An estimated 91,000 workers quit jobs from Virginia employers in December. The number of quits was little changed from November’s revised figure. This was six percent lower over-the-year and five percent lower than five years earlier. In December, the number of U.S.
quits was little changed at 3.2 million but declined by 242,000 over the year. Quits decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-42,000). Large increases occurred in Texas (+105,000) and New York (+28,000). The decreases occurred in Florida (-90,000) and Colorado (-25,000). The quits rate in the Commonwealth was 2.1 percent and remained at levels seen over the last two years. Over the month, the U.S. quits rate was unchanged at 2.0 percent. The December ‘churn’ rate (the sum of the hires rate and total separations rate) in Virginia inched up by 0.2 of a percentage point from November’s revised 6.7 percent figure. This equaled the U.S. churn rate, which was unchanged over the month. While more volatile month-to-month, Virginia’s pace has been more active for over a year.
The number of layoffs and discharges in Virginia was 38,000 in December, a decrease of 2,000 from November’s revised estimate. This was down 12 percent over the year. Layoffs and discharges are countercyclical, which means that layoffs typically increase during economic contractions and decrease during economic expansions. In December, the number of U.S. layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.8 million. Layoffs and discharges increased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+87,000), and in mining and logging (+6,000).
The Virginia layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at nearly one percent in December. The U.S. layoffs and discharges rate remained unchanged at 1.1 percent. For establishments with 5,000 or more employees, the layoffs and discharges rate and total separations rate increased. Large increases in layoffs and discharges rates occurred in Rhode Island (+2.1 percentage points) and New Jersey (+0.6 point).
On the last business day of December, JOLTS data in Virginia and nationwide indicated that job churn often slowed in 2024, with workers more reluctant to leave current positions. At the same time, layoffs remained low, providing a positive labor market signal.
Job Openings
Job openings include all positions that are open on the last business day of the reference month. A job is open only if it meets the following three conditions: (1) A specific position exists and there is work available for that position; the position can be full time or part time, and it can be permanent, short term, or seasonal; (2) the job could start within 30 days, whether or not the employer can find a suitable candidate during that time; and (3) the employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position. Excluded are positions open only to internal transfers, promotions or demotions, or recalls from layoffs.
Hires
Hires include all additions to the payroll during the entire reference month, including newly hired and rehired employees; full-time and part-time employees; permanent, short-term, and seasonal employees; employees who were recalled to a job at the location following a layoff (formal suspension from pay status) lasting more than 7 days; on-call or intermittent employees who returned to work after having been formally separated; workers who were hired and separated during the month; and transfers from other locations. Excluded are transfers or promotions within the reporting location, employees returning from a strike, and employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants.
Separations
Separations include all separations from the payroll during the entire reference month and are reported by type of separation: quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits include employees who left voluntarily, except for retirements or transfers to other locations. Layoffs and discharges include involuntary separations initiated by the employer, including layoffs with no intent to rehire; layoffs (formal suspensions from pay status) lasting or expected to last more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, downsizing, or closings; firings or other discharges for cause; terminations of permanent or short-term employees; and terminations of seasonal employees (whether or not they are expected to return the next season). Other separations include retirements, transfers to other locations, separations due to employee disability, and deaths. Excluded are transfers within the same location, employees on strike, and employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants.
*Excerpted from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Handbook of Methods, “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Concepts,” https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/jlt/concepts.htm.
Virginia Works plans to release the January 2025 analysis of the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for Virginia on Monday March 24, 2025. The data for all states and the U.S. will be available on the BLS website JOLTS page, at https://www.bls.gov/jlt/. BLS is scheduled to release the January JOLTS data for states on Thursday, March 20, 2025.
### Technical note: Effective with the release of May 2024 data on July 24, 2024, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) state estimates have been benchmarked and revised to include the annual benchmark revisions to JOLTS national estimates, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment estimates, and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data. Seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data from January 2019 forward are subject to revision. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) produces monthly data on U.S. and regional job openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations from a sample of approximately 21,000 establishments.
For more information on the program’s concepts and methodology, see “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Handbook of Methods” (Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 13, 2020), https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/jlt/home.htm. For more information on BLS’ state JOLTS estimates, see https://www.bls.gov/jlt/jlt_statedata.htm. Definitions of JOLTS terms*
RICHMOND — Virginia Works announced today that 2,899 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending February 15, 2025, which is 9.5 percent lower than last week’s 3,202 claims and 27.6 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,272). Nearly 74 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (64 percent) were Manufacturing (400); Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (378); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (255); Health Care and Social Assistance (181); and Retail Trade (162).
Continued weeks claims
(17,579) were 1.7 percent higher than last week (17,288) and were 11.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,817). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (58 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2,622); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,181); Construction (1,592); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,535); and Manufacturing (1,382).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership
| Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity | ||||
| Week Ending 02/15/2025 | Week Ending 02/08/2025 | Week Ending 02/01/2025 | Last Year 02/17/2024 | |
| Initial Claims | 2,899 | 3,202 | 2,606 | 2,272 |
| Initial Change (%) | -303 (-9.5%) | +596 (+22.9%) | +84 (+3.3%) | +627 (+27.6%) |
| Continued Claims | 17,579 | 17,288 | 17,201 | 15,817 |
Virginia Continued Weeks Claimed
A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. On a weekly basis, continued claims reflect a good approximation of the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits, and are a good indicator of labor market conditions. While continued claims are not a leading indicator, they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the economy.
The color-coded map below shows the distribution of this week’s continued claims for Virginia’s counties and cities.
Yellow represents low numbers, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green signify increasing numbers of continued claims. The legend located at the bottom provides the color spectrum and its corresponding count of continued claims.
Initial Claims for All States
In the week ending February 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 219,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 213,000 to 214,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 222,627 in the week ending February 15, a decrease of 10,118 (or 4.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 15,416 (or 6.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 199,337 initial claims in the comparable week in 2024.
| Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| California | 45,623 | 50,545 | -4,922 |
| Florida | 5,615 | 6,778 | -1,163 |
| Pennsylvania | 11,322 | 12,482 | -1,160 |
| New Jersey | 9,428 | 10,442 | -1,014 |
| Maryland | 2,354 | 3,175 | -821 |
| Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| Kentucky | 5,118 | 2,085 | 3,033 |
| Tennessee | 5,645 | 2,892 | 2,753 |
| Washington | 7,768 | 7,114 | 654 |
| Michigan | 7,734 | 7,274 | 460 |
| Oregon | 5,585 | 5,224 | 361 |
All States Initial Weeks Claimed
An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country.
Below is a color-coded map illustrating the percentage change in initial claims from last week to this week across all states nationwide, derived from the latest U.S Department of Labor Weekly Claims News Release (https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf). Green denotes a reduction in continued claims from last week, thus showing improvement, with progressively darker shades of green signifying greater improvement. Purple denotes an increase in continued claims from last week, thus showing deterioration, with progressively darker shades of purple signifying greater deterioration. Very light green, purple or white indicates minimal change from last week. The legend at the bottom provides the color spectrum along with its corresponding percentage value.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 3,202 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending February 08, 2025, which is 22.9 percent higher than last week’s 2,606 claims and 24.5 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,571). Nearly 73 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (426); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (313); Health Care and Social Assistance (275); Retail Trade (204); and Manufacturing (169).
Continued weeks claims (17,288) were 0.5 percent higher than last week (17,201) and were 11.5 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,511). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (57 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (2,508); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,159); Construction (1,622); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,444); and Manufacturing (1,397).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership
| Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity | ||||
| Week Ending 02/08/2025 | Week Ending 02/01/2025 | Week Ending 01/25/2025 | Last Year 02/10/2024 | |
| Initial Claims | 3,202 | 2,606 | 2,522 | 2,571 |
| Initial Change (%) | +596 (+22.9%) | +84 (+3.3%) | -336 (-11.8%) | +631 (+24.5%) |
| Continued Claims | 17,288 | 17,201 | 17,203 | 15,511 |
Virginia Continued Weeks Claimed
A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. On a weekly basis, continued claims reflect a good approximation of the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits, and are a good indicator of labor market conditions. While continued claims are not a leading indicator, they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the economy.
The color-coded map below shows the distribution of this week’s continued claims for Virginia’s counties and cities.
Yellow represents low numbers, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green signify increasing numbers of continued claims. The legend located at the bottom provides the color spectrum and its corresponding count of continued claims.
Initial Claims for All States
In the week ending February 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 213,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 219,000 to 220,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 231,006 in the week ending February 8, a decrease of 10,095 (or 4.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 1,761 (or 0.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 223,985 initial claims in the comparable week in 2024.
| Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| Pennsylvania | 12,451 | 15,426 | -2,975 |
| New York | 16,243 | 19,162 | -2,919 |
| Wisconsin | 4,831 | 6,295 | -1,464 |
| Ohio | 6,380 | 7,564 | -1,184 |
| Missouri | 2,994 | 3,971 | -977 |
| Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted) | |||
| State | Initial Claims (this week) | Initial Claims (prior week) | Change |
| California | 51,069 | 49,384 | 1,685 |
| Oregon | 5,552 | 4,848 | 704 |
| Washington | 7,114 | 6,474 | 640 |
| Florida | 6,486 | 5,962 | 524 |
| District of Columbia | 1,780 | 1,310 | 470 |
All States Initial Weeks Claimed
An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country.
Below is a color-coded map illustrating the percentage change in initial claims from last week to this week across all states nationwide, derived from the latest U.S Department of Labor Weekly Claims News Release (https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf). Green denotes a reduction in continued claims from last week, thus showing improvement, with progressively darker shades of green signifying greater improvement. Purple denotes an increase in continued claims from last week, thus showing deterioration, with progressively darker shades of purple signifying greater deterioration. Very light green, purple or white indicates minimal change from last week. The legend at the bottom provides the color spectrum along with its corresponding percentage value.
