COLUMBUS – The number of Ohioans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits increased last week by the largest number since the opening days of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that the virus that has claimed over 7,000 lives also maintains a stranglehold on the state’s economy.
Ohio workers filed 36,327 initial jobless claims during the week that ended Dec. 4, according to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported to the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday. Although that was 237,888 fewer than the peak number filed during the last week in March, as businesses and schools closed down statewide to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it is 8,577 more than the week of Nov. 27, a 31% increase.
The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 38 weeks is over 1.9 million.
The number of continued jobless claims, considered a more reliable indicator of economic health, also increase. Ohioans filed 271,518 continued jobless claims last week, 6% more than the week before, the state reported.
Nationwide, the number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that some companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher.
Faced with a surge in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to extend a statewide 10:00 p.m.-5:00 a.m. curfew beyond Thursday and maintain a requirement that employees and customers in retail and food service businesses wear masks.
The state has reported 520,112 cases of the virus since the onset of the pandemic with 10,094 new cases reported Wednesday.
There have been 7,187 deaths and 30,690 hospitalizations, including 464 new admissions Wednesday.
Currently, coronavirus patients occupy 18.8% of the state’s inpatient hospital beds and Ohio’s seven-day rate of positive virus tests is 16.1%.