COLUMBUS – More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain at historic lows.
Ohioans filed 16,156 initial claims for traditional unemployment benefits last week, a 28.2% jump from the week before and the third increase in the last four weeks, according to data the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services provided to the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday.
First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs.
The state processed 47,679 continued claims last week, 6.9% fewer than the previous week and the fourth straight weekly decline. The total number of claims was virtually unchanged at 63,835.
The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, rose by 10.6%.
In total, 1.3 million Americans were collecting jobless aid, the fewest since December 1969.