VIRGINIA – New reporting from Axios Richmond detailed the surge in first-time unemployment claims at the beginning of March following Donald Trump’s attacks on Virginia’s economy and workforce that Winsome Earle-Sears has defended and doubled down on.

 Axios Richmond: March shows a big jump in Virginia unemployment claims 

• First-time unemployment claims filed by Virginians surged in the first full week of March, according to the latest stats from Virginia Works.
• [...] 40% higher than the 2,881 first-time claims filed the previous week and 81 % more than the 2,229 filed for the same week in 2024.
• Why it matters: It could be the first data-driven look at the impact of the Trump administration's federal spending and workforce cuts on local jobs.
• Zoom out: Nationwide, there were 220,000 new unemployment claims for the first full week of March. 

  • That same week, 1,580 federal workers filed for benefits nationwide, a number four times higher than the previous year, per MarketWatch. 

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