First-time unemployment claims in Henrico nearly quadruple

A week after registering its lowest total of initial unemployment claims since the pandemic began, first-time claims in Henrico nearly quadrupled, according to Virginia Employment Commission data.

Henrico witnessed 242 initial claims during the week of Sept. 12-18, after witnessing just 67 the previous week. The new claims were the most in a single week since the week of Aug. 12-18, when 248 people filed such claims.

But first-time claims in Henrico still were well below the totals of many larger localities statewide; Henrico (the sixth-largest locality in Virginia) ranked just 15th in most initial claims filed during the most recent week. Fairfax County (Virginia’s largest locality) was first with 1,015; Richmond was fourth with 610; and Chesterfield was eighth with 456.

Statewide, nearly 16,000 people filed initial claims during the most recent week – a staggering increase of 12,140 from the previous week.

“While the number of Virginians receiving some form of benefits continues to decline, the number of initial claims quadrupled from the previous week, rising to its highest levels in more than five weeks,” said Dominique Johnson, research associate at Old Dominion University's Dragas Center. “The general trend, however, shows a continued steady decline in both initial and continued claims from the peak in April 2020. While one week does not constitute a trend, the sharp rise in initial claims during the latest week may be a sign that the COVID-19 delta variant is dampening the recovery. Overall, labor market conditions in Virginia continue to show signs of a slowing recovery. The latest data for August show that while the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, the size of the labor force has yet to exceed August 2020 levels.”

The number of people filing continuing unemployment claims in Henrico dropped slightly, from 1,267 to 1,150. That ranked the county ninth among state localities.