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:
Announcements | Virginia Economic Development Partnership
| Initial Claims – Comparison of Unemployment Insurance Activity | ||||
| Week Ending 04/19/2025 | Week Ending 04/12/2025 | Week Ending 04/05/2025 | Last Year 04/20/2024 | |
| Initial Claims | 2,384 | 3,270 | 3,714 | 2,331 |
| Initial Change (%) | -886 (-27.1%) | -444 (-12.0%) | +1,139 (+44.2%) | +53 (+2.3%) |
| Continued Claims | 17,457 | 18,459 | 17,598 | 15,254 |
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.
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