Hampton Roads jobless claims up; region spared worst, economists say

Hampton Roads’ economic reliance on the military has in the past been seen as a crutch by business and community leaders hoping to diversify its economy and compete with thriving metro areas like Richmond and Raleigh, North Carolina.

But that same pillar of the economy is also a major reason why federal workforce cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration haven’t sent local unemployment claims soaring, an Old Dominion University economist said Friday.

Continued unemployment claims — from those who continue to file for unemployment benefits after the initial claim — have increased almost 14%, from 3,151 to 4,007, in Hampton Roads from Jan. 1 to May 31, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But during the same time period, continued jobless claims in Northern Virginia skyrock