Unemployment Claims

Unemployment initial claims serve as an indicator of economic health.  This data measures the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time. It provides policymakers and economists with the timeliest data about labor market conditions, often foreshadowing broader economic conditions that are reported on a monthly basis in state and federal job reports and databases.

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Note:

1. Federally filed claims are delayed by weeks or months.  Therefore, the large number of federal layoffs that have occurred in early 2025 have yet to be reported in the Department of Labor's data for the U.S. and the states. 

 

2. County level unemployment claims data is published on a weekly and monthly basis by the Commonwealth of Virginia, of which the weekly data had discrepancies as of March 1, 2025 that the state is correcting.  Once the state corrects the weekly data, NVRC will publish Northern Virginia and local jurisdiction data.  The monthly data will not be available for March until late April, as it has a one month lag.