New claims for unemployment benefits in Virginia rise for 10th straight week

Initial filings for unemployment benefits in Virginia rose again last week, the 10th consecutive week new filings were higher than the previous week, though initial claims in D.C. and Maryland continued to fall.

Nationwide, the Labor Department reports 751,000 new filings for unemployment benefits in the week ending Oct.31, down from 758,000 the previous week. It was the third consecutive week new filings remained below 800,000.

Continuing claims as of the end of last week totaled 7.3 million, 538,000 fewer than the previous week.

On an unadjusted basis, new filings for unemployment benefits totaled 738,166 last week.

Initial jobless claims in Virginia have risen every week since late-August, and were up by more than 500 last week, compared to the previous week.

Initial unemployment filings, unadjusted, in D.C., Maryland and Virginia for the week ending Oct. 31:

District of Columbia:

  • Week ending Oct. 31: 1,188
  • Week ending Oct. 24: 1,473

Maryland:

  • Week ending Oct. 31: 10,162
  • Week ending Oct. 24: 10,743

Virginia:

  • Week ending Oct. 31: 12,895
  • Week ending Oct. 24: 12,352

The Department of Labor posts weekly initial jobless 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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