Virginia Announces Latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Initial Claims and Continued Claims
Home> Virginia Announces Latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Initial Claims and Continued Claims
Home> Virginia Announces Latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Initial Claims and Continued Claims
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,720 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending May 03, 2025, which is 8.1 percent higher than last week’s 2,516 claims and 8.9 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,497). Nearly 83 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (62 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (515); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (275); Retail Trade (217); Health Care and Social Assistance (208); and Manufacturing (145).
Continued weeks claims (17,896) were 1.5 percent higher than last week (17,638) and were 15.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,546). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,748); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,225); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,579); Retail Trade (1,392); and Manufacturing (1,161).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending05/03/2025
Week Ending04/26/2025
Week Ending04/19/2025
Last Year05/04/2024
Initial Claims
2,720
2,516
2,384
2,497
Initial Change (%)
+204 (+8.1%)
+132 (+5.5%)
-886 (-27.1%)
+223 (+8.9%)
Continued Claims
17,896
17,638
17,457
15,546
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 in Virginia’s counties and cities, expressed as a percentage of each locality’s labor force. This approach provides a more meaningful comparison across areas by adjusting for differences in labor force size. Yellow represents a lower percentage of continued claims relative to the labor force, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green indicate higher percentages. The legend at the bottom shows the color spectrum and its corresponding percentage ranges.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,516 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending April 26, 2025, which is 5.5 percent higher than last week’s 2,384 claims and 11.0 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,266). Nearly 82 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (467); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (247); Health Care and Social Assistance (185); Retail Trade (170); and Manufacturing (145).
Continued weeks claims (17,638) were 1.0 percent higher than last week (17,457) and were 13.7 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,518). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,606); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,210); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,582); Retail Trade (1,415); and Manufacturing (1,158).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
The color-coded map below shows the distribution of this week’s continued claims in Virginia’s counties and cities, expressed as a percentage of each locality’s labor force. This approach provides a more meaningful comparison across areas by adjusting for differences in labor force size. Yellow represents a lower percentage of continued claims relative to the labor force, while progressively darker shades transitioning from yellow to green and dark green indicate higher percentages. The legend at the bottom shows the color spectrum and its corresponding percentage ranges.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,384 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending April 19, 2025, which is 27.1 percent lower than last week’s 3,270 claims and 2.3 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,331). Nearly 79 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (63 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (373); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (230); Health Care and Social Assistance (207); Retail Trade (179); and Manufacturing (162).
Continued weeks claims (17,457) were 5.4 percent lower than last week (18,459) and were 14.4 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,254). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (61 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,505); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,167); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,558); Retail Trade (1,397); and Manufacturing (1,204).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
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.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 3,270 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending April 12, 2025, which is 12.0 percent lower than last week’s 3,714 claims and 46.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,238). Nearly 68 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (66 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (465); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (269); Retail Trade (246); Manufacturing (223); and Health Care and Social Assistance (209).
Continued weeks claims (18,459) were 4.9 percent higher than last week (17,598) and were 20.9 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,263). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (62 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,529); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,152); Manufacturing (1,848); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,566); and Retail Trade (1,398).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending04/12/2025
Week Ending04/05/2025
Week Ending03/29/2025
Last Year04/13/2024
Initial Claims
3,270
3,714
2,575
2,238
Initial Change (%)
-444 (-12.0%)
+1,139 (+44.2%)
-108 (-4.0%)
+1,032 (+46.1%)
Continued Claims
18,459
17,598
17,625
15,263
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.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 3,714 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending April 05, 2025, which is 44.2 percent higher than last week’s 2,575 claims and 62.3 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,288). A major portion of this increase was due to the Warn Notice from a single manufacturing employer in the southern part of the state.
Nearly 79 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (71 percent) were Manufacturing (928); Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (490); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (254); Health Care and Social Assistance (212); and Retail Trade (169).
Continued weeks claims (17,598) were 0.2 percent lower than last week (17,625) and were 14.6 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,351). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (60 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,358); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,101); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,565); Retail Trade (1,413); and Manufacturing (1,276).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending04/05/2025
Week Ending03/29/2025
Week Ending03/22/2025
Last Year04/06/2024
Initial Claims
3,714
2,575
2,683
2,288
Initial Change (%)
+1,139 (+44.2%)
-108 (-4.0%)
-458 (-14.6%)
+1,426 (+62.3%)
Continued Claims
17,598
17,625
18,013
15,351
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.
RICHMOND— Virginia Works announced today that 2,575 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 29, 2025, which is 4.0 percent lower than last week’s 2,683 claims and 23.7 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,081). Nearly 81 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (60 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (435); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (255); Health Care and Social Assistance (192); Retail Trade (187); and Manufacturing (146).
Continued weeks claims (17,625) were 2.2 percent lower than last week (18,013) and were 15.2 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,302). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (59 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,281); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,111); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,572); Retail Trade (1,410); and Manufacturing (1,250).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending03/29/2025
Week Ending03/22/2025
Week Ending03/15/2025
Last Year03/30/2024
Initial Claims
2,575
2,683
3,141
2,081
Initial Change (%)
-108 (-4.0%)
-458 (-14.6%)
-895 (-22.2%)
+494 (+23.7%)
Continued Claims
17,625
18,013
18,349
15,302
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 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 219,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 224,000 to 225,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 200,057 in the week ending March 29, an increase of 157 (or 0.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 5,403 (or 2.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 197,349 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
Texas
16,670
17,469
-799
Massachusetts
4,210
4,879
-669
Arizona
3,198
3,777
-579
New Jersey
7,730
8,264
-534
Maryland
2,074
2,552
-478
Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
State
Initial Claims (this week)
Initial Claims (prior week)
Change
Kentucky
5,261
2,448
2,813
Illinois
10,275
8,954
1,321
Iowa
3,133
2,112
1,021
Wisconsin
4,739
3,966
773
California
41,573
40,891
682
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 2,683 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 22, 2025, which is 14.6 percent lower than last week’s 3,141 claims and 27.9 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,098). Nearly 80 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (63 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (449); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (241); Manufacturing (204); Health Care and Social Assistance (203); and Retail Trade (194).
Continued weeks claims (18,013) were 1.8 percent lower than last week (18,349) and were 16.2 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,497). Nearly 92 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (59 percent) were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (3,164); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,122); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,548); Manufacturing (1,519); and Retail Trade (1,381).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending03/22/2025
Week Ending03/15/2025
Week Ending03/08/2025
Last Year03/23/2024
Initial Claims
2,683
3,141
4,036
2,098
Initial Change (%)
-458 (-14.6%)
-895 (-22.2%)
+1,155 (+40.1%)
+585 (+27.9%)
Continued Claims
18,013
18,349
17,681
15,497
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 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 224,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 223,000 to 225,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 198,917 in the week ending March 22, a decrease of 8,481 (or 4.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 7,214 (or 3.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 193,923 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
Michigan
5,336
9,378
-4,042
Texas
17,363
19,243
-1,880
Mississippi
843
2,668
-1,825
California
41,262
42,717
-1,455
Pennsylvania
9,335
9,903
-568
Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
State
Initial Claims (this week)
Initial Claims (prior week)
Change
Oregon
5,210
4,262
948
Kentucky
2,447
1,533
914
New York
15,063
14,434
629
Iowa
2,247
1,731
516
Tennessee
3,014
2,606
408
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 3,141 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 15, 2025, which is 22.2 percent lower than last week’s 4,036 claims and 65.0 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (1,904). Nearly 76 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (69 percent) were Manufacturing (475); Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (462); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (229); Health Care and Social Assistance (216); and Retail Trade (197).
Continued weeks claims (18,349) were 3.8 percent higher than last week (17,681) and were 17.5 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,612). 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 (3,033); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,123); Manufacturing (1,729); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,522); and Construction (1,381).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending03/15/2025
Week Ending03/08/2025
Week Ending03/01/2025
Last Year03/16/2024
Initial Claims
3,141
4,036
2,881
1,904
Initial Change (%)
-895 (-22.2%)
+1,155 (+40.1%)
+408 (+16.5%)
+1,237 (+65.0%)
Continued Claims
18,349
17,681
17,671
15,612
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 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 223,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 220,000 to 221,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 206,503 in the week ending March 15, a decrease of 7,502 (or 3.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 9,285 (or 4.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 191,772 initial claims in the comparable week in 2024. These are advanced figures that provide a rapid estimate of claims across the country for economic monitoring and do not reflect all claims counted in the Thursday Claims data noted above.
Initial State Claims (5 largest decreases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
State
Initial Claims (this week)
Initial Claims (prior week)
Change
California
43,047
46,342
-3,295
Illinois
8,696
10,013
-1,317
New Jersey
8,085
9,052
-967
Virginia
3,072
4,036
-964
Pennsylvania
9,874
10,780
-906
Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
State
Initial Claims (this week)
Initial Claims (prior week)
Change
Michigan
9,369
6,536
2,833
Mississippi
2,595
893
1,702
Texas
19,118
17,785
1,333
Oregon
4,684
4,235
449
Nebraska
992
609
383
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 4,036 unemployment insurance weekly initial claims were filed during the week ending March 08, 2025, which is 40.1 percent higher than last week’s 2,881 claims and 81.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (2,229). Nearly 66 percent of claimants self-reported an associated industry; of those reported, the top five industries (69 percent) were Manufacturing (619); Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (509); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (256); Retail Trade (214); and Health Care and Social Assistance (200).
Continued weeks claims (17,681) were 0.1 percent higher than last week (17,671) and were 13.1 percent higher than the comparable week of last year (15,629). 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 (2,881); Administrative and Support and Waste Management (2,074); Health Care and Social Assistance (1,505); Construction (1,482); and Manufacturing (1,463).
Significant Layoffs and Announcements are available at the following websites:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending03/08/2025
Week Ending03/01/2025
Week Ending02/22/2025
Last Year03/09/2024
Initial Claims
4,036
2,881
2,473
2,229
Initial Change (%)
+1,155 (+40.1%)
+408 (+16.5%)
-426 (-14.7%)
+1,807 (+81.1%)
Continued Claims
17,681
17,671
18,179
15,629
***Due to technical issues, the Virginia map, typically found on page 3, is currently unavailable.***
Initial Claims for All States
In the week ending March 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 220,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 221,000 to 222,000. The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 212,817 in the week ending March 8, a decrease of 13,202 (or 5.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 10,890 (or 4.8 percent) from the previous week. There were 202,722 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
New York
15,086
30,051
-14,965
Wisconsin
3,926
5,668
-1,742
Missouri
2,580
3,486
-906
Kentucky
2,092
2,914
-822
Ohio
5,853
6,549
-696
Initial State Claims (5 largest increases) (Not Seasonally Adjusted)
State
Initial Claims (this week)
Initial Claims (prior week)
Change
California
46,807
42,062
4,745
Texas
17,753
16,315
1,438
Michigan
6,502
5,626
876
Virginia
3,470
2,881
589
Oregon
4,601
4,101
500
***The Virginia numbers noted here do not account for 566 claims which are Unemployment Compensation
for Federal Employees (UCFE) and Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers claims and
transitional claims.***
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.
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 2,881 unemployment insurance weekly initialclaims 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:
Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity
Week Ending03/01/2025
Week Ending02/22/2025
Week Ending02/15/2025
Last Year03/02/2024
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.
