Henrico's weekly first-time unemployment claims hit 2-month high

Initial unemployment filings in Henrico County rose for the third week in a row – to a level not seen in two months – according to data released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission.

A total of 1,281 people in Henrico filed first-time claims during the week of July 19-25, the VEC reported – a 20% increase from the previous week. The last time that many Henricoans filed initial claims during a week was May 17-23, when 1,346 did so.

Statewide, first-time filings grew by about 13% from last week’s figures.

In total, during the 19 weeks since the pandemic began, 37,265 Henrico residents have filed initial claims. Thursday’s VEC data showed that only 13,817 had filed continuing claims, however – indicating that many likely have returned to work, even as new filings begin to rise again. It was the third straight week in which continuing claims in the county declined.

Henrico was 10th in the state in the number of new filings during the most recent week; typically, it has ranked between sixth and ninth on a week-by-week basis. Overall, it ranks eighth among state localities in the total number of first-time filers since the pandemic began; Chesterfield County is seventh and Richmond is fourth.