COLUMBUS – The number of Ohioans filing applications for first-time jobless benefits fell by 15% last week, a sign the state’s economy continues to slowly come back to life following the shutdown intended to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state reported 30,138 initial jobless claims last week to the U.S. Department of Labor, the smallest number since wholesale business closings forced employers to idle more than one million workers in March and April.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says that number is 244,077 fewer than the peak earlier this year. Ohioans filed 423,672 continued jobless claims last week, 352,630 fewer than the high reached earlier this year.
The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 18 weeks was 1.53 million.
Over that time, the department has paid out more than $5.5 billion in unemployment compensation to more than 757,000 Ohioans, plus more than $4.4 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments to more than 474,000 claimants who traditionally do not qualify for unemployment benefits.
Nationally, the number of laid-off Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, evidence of the deepening economic pain the outbreak is causing to the economy.
All told, the Labor Department said Thursday that roughly 32 million people are receiving unemployment benefits.
The $600 weekly Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments from the federal government are scheduled to expire July 25 and will end with without Congressional approval to extend them or replace them with a new rescue bill.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is due to unveil a $1 trillion rescue package Thursday morning.