New unemployment claims rise in DC, Virginia

The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits in the U.S. rose to 1.1 million last week. D.C. and Virginia also saw their numbers rise. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/RyanKing999)

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.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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