COLUMBUS – The number of first-time unemployment claims filed in Ohio declined by 10% last week, though a large number of workers still find themselves idled by layoffs and business closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ohioans filed 115,174 initial jobless claims last week, according to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported to the U.S. Department of Labor for the week that ended March 13, compared with 128,161 the week before.
The number is inflated by the approximately 20,000 claims the department says have been flagged as potentially fraudulent.
Ohioans filed 322,063 continued jobless claims last week, 59% fewer than at the peak of the economic shutdown. That includes traditional and extended unemployment claims.
Another 192,532 Ohioans received federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, provided for self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and other workers who don’t qualify for traditional unemployment benefits.
Traditional and extended benefits have been extended until Sept. 4 under the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package signed by President Joe Biden on March 11.
According to data released earlier this month, there were still 307,000 fewer jobs in January than a year earlier but the state had recovered most of the nearly 900,000 jobs lost during the first few weeks of the pandemic when businesses were closed and Ohioans urged to stay home to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims climbed from 725,000 to 770,000. The numbers have dropped sharply since the depths of the recession last spring but still show that employers in some industries continue to lay off workers.