New claims for unemployment benefits nationwide rose for the first time in 16 weeks last week, though the total number of Americans getting unemployment benefits continued to fall.
New claims in both the District and Maryland fell, but they rose in Virginia.
The Labor Department reports 1.416 million initial unemployment claims in the week ending July 18, up by 109,000 from the previous week.
Continuing claims totaled 16.197 million last week, down for the eighth straight week.
On an unadjusted basis, which excludes seasonal factors, initial unemployment claims last week totaled 1.371 million.
A total of 59,590 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Unadjusted initial jobless claims for both last week and the previous week:
District of Columbia:
Week ending July 18: 3,013
Week ending July 11: 3,300
Maryland:
Week ending July 18: 16,389
Week ending July 11: 19,463
Virginia:
Week ending July 18: 40,188
Week ending July 11: 32,292
The Labor Department posts initial unemployment claims by state online.
