First-time claims for unemployment benefits nationally last week reversed the previous week’s decline, and new claims in both the District and Virginia rose with the national numbers.
New jobless claims in Maryland fell modestly.
The Department of Labor reports initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending Aug. 15 totaled 1.106 million, up from 963,000 the previous week, which was the first week new weekly claims fell below 1 million since mid-March.
Continuing claims, or the total number of Americans currently getting unemployment benefits fell by 636,000, to 14.844 million as of last week.
On an unadjusted basis, which excludes seasonal factors, initial unemployment claims last week totaled 891,510.
The total number of new claims for unemployment benefits filed by residents in D.C., Maryland and Virginia was 27,067. The Labor Department does not break out initial jobless claims by metropolitan area.
New unemployment claims, unadjusted, for D.C., Maryland and Virginia:
District of Columbia:
Week ending Aug. 15: 1,995
Week ending Aug. 8: 1,797
Maryland:
Week ending Aug. 15: 8,301
Week ending Aug. 8: 8,892
Virginia:
Week ending Aug. 15: 16,771
Week ending Aug. 8: 13,265
The Department of Labor posts weekly unemployment claims by state online.
