COLUMBUS – Ohio saw a big jump in claims for unemployment benefits last week as requests that had previously been included in a federal pandemic assistance program were treated as traditional claims.
The Ohio Department of Job and family Services reported to the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday that 12,952 Ohioans filed initial claims for benefits during the week that ended on Sept. 18, a 46.6% leap from the number who filed the previous week, though not a huge deviation from the norm over the course of the past two months.
The average number of first-time claims in Ohio over the past eight weeks is 11,028.
The number of Ohioans claiming continued traditional benefits increased by 28%, which state officials attributed to the end of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program on Sept. 4 and claims filed by workers begin processed as claims for traditional benefits.
The 159,776 continued claims is 14% higher than the eight-week average.
Analysts believe a second straight week of increases in weekly claims nationally is a sign that the delta variant of the coronavirus may be disrupting the job market’s recovery, at least temporarily.
Ohio’s unemployment rate in August was 5.4%, unchanged from July as more people joined the work force and most found jobs.