COLUMBUS – Fewer Ohioans applied for first-timer unemployment benefits last week, the sixth decline out of the last seven weeks.
First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs, which are back down to fairly healthy pre-pandemic levels.
Ohioans filed 10,799 initial traditional unemployment claims last week, which was 16% fewer than the previous week, according to data the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services provided to the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday.
Initial jobless claims nationwide fell by 18,000 to 215,000 for the week ending Feb. 26.
Ohioans filed 59,551 continued unemployment claims, virtually unchanged from the week before while the 70,350 total claims processed by the agency was 2.7% fewer that the week before.
The four-week average for claims, which compensates for weekly volatility, inched upward by 1%.