Unemployment Insurance Claims Remain High In Virginia, DC

VIRGINIA/DC — More than 20.5 million people lost jobs in April across the U.S. due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economy, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Those losses follow big job losses in March when employers cut 870,000 jobs. The nation's unemployment rate increased to 14.7 percent at the end of April.

In Virginia, 61,138 unemployment claims were filed last week, down from the 72,488 claims filed for the week ending April 25, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Since mid-March, more than 600,000 people have filed unemployment insurance claims across the state.

In the District of Columbia, unemployment claims totaled 8,133 for the week ending May 2, down from the 8,707 claims filed the previous week.

In April, the unemployment rate across the country increased by 10.3 percentage points, the highest rate and the largest month-over-month increase since the federal government began tracking the data in 1948, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The growing unemployment rate reflects "the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it," the bureau said. Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors,
with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality, it said.

A Virginia Employment Commission officials said Friday at a news conference that the agency has been able to get unemployment benefits to more than over 70,000 gig workers and self-employed workers in Virginia since adding a process to expand eligibility through the agency's system.

The official said the agency is still ramping up staff to handle more calls and the appeals process to unemployment claims in the state.