Unemployment claims rose sharply in Virginia last week, with more likely ahead, as Amazon announced it will lay off almost 700 employees at five grocery stores it plans to close in April in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Works, the state workforce development agency, said Thursday that the state received 4,592 unemployment claims last week, a 71% spike from the previous week when it received about 2,300 fewer initial claims for jobless benefits. The level of claims is up 43% from the same week a year earlier.
Read the full story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
