State’s new unemployment claims hit low in pandemic

Since the effects of the coronavirus pandemic took hold in mid-March, the number of new unemployment claims filed in one week by Virginians fell to its lowest level during the week ending Nov. 28 .

The Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday that 8,606 new filings for traditional state unemployment benefits were made during the week, a nearly 30% drop from the week before. The number of Virginians still collecting traditional state jobless benefits week after week dropped 10% to 72,305 during the week.

Nationwide, initial unemployment claims dropped by 75,000 to 712,000 during the week.

It’s the first full week following the end of extended benefits available to Virginians as of Nov. 21.

The numbers statewide and nationally don’t include individuals in nontraditional employment — including those who are self-employed or contractors doing gig economy work — or those whose benefits had otherwise expired but were eligible for a pandemic-related extension.

As of the week ending Nov. 14, there were 398,465 total Virginians claiming some form of unemployment benefit, including traditional state benefits and pandemic-related relief. It was the third week in a row that the number had declined.

Nationwide, during the same week, the number of Americans claiming any form of unemployment was nearly 20.2 million which had dropped by 349,633 since the week before.