Unemployment Claims

Unemployment initial and continued claims serve as an indicator of economic health. Initial unemployment claims measure the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time. Continued unemployment claims measure the number of people who already filed an initial claim in a prior week and have subsequently filed a continued claim for unemployment benefits because they continue to be unemployed. The weekly data provides policymakers and economists with the timeliest data about labor market conditions, often foreshadowing broader economic conditions that are reported on a monthly basis in state and federal job reports and databases.

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About the Data

1. This data represents place of residence of the worker filing a claim. It does not represent place of work where the claim would be initially filed.

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2. Federally filed claims have reporting delays of several weeks or months because a claim is not classified as a federal (UCFE) claim until federal wages are confirmed. Also, individuals who are on administrative leave with pay or voluntarily quit do not qualify for unemployment benefits. Therefore, a large number of federal employees laid off in early 2025 have yet to qualify or be officially confirmed for unemployment claims benefits. 

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3. County level unemployment claims data is published on a monthly basis by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The Commonwealth will soon be publishing county level claims on a weekly basis.  Once the state begins publishing the weekly data, NVRC will publish Northern Virginia and local jurisdiction data on this dashboard. 

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***Friday Updates***

Claims data representing place of residence is submitted by

Virginia Employment Commission  to  the U.S. Department of Labor.   

This dashboard is updated on Fridays.