Alexandria’s Initial unemployment claims drop, continued claims remain steady

Alexandria’s initial (first time) unemployment claims fell significantly, and continued claims remained steady for the week ending May 1.

There were just 310 initial claims for the week ending Mat 1, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. That’s a 78% dip in the number of claims from the previous week, which saw 1,498 initial claims.

The number of continued claims was steady at 1,421, which is the same as the week before and a slight increase over the week ending April 17.

The week ending May 1 is the 59th since the pandemic began in Virginia. Statewide, initial claims in Virginia fell to 12,231, which is a decrease of more than 25,000 claimants from the previous week. 17,560; and continued claims increased slightly to 55,195 claims.

Looking for work? The Alexandria Workforce Development Center hosts weekly workshops, and there are a number of job openings with the city.

Learn more about filing a weekly or continued claim here.

According to VEC:

The locality with the most initial unemployment claims this week was Fairfax County which saw 746 initial filings. Prince William County and Norfolk City followed with 537 and 522 initial claims respectively. Of the 133 counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth, all 133 saw either a decrease or no change in the number of filings this week compared to the week before. The locality with the largest decrease was Richmond City which had 1,547 fewer initial claims compared to the prior week. Bland County and Highland County both saw no change in the number of claims, week over week.