COLUMBUS – The number of Ohioans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits fell for the fourth consecutive week, to the lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread business shutdowns, and the number of workers collecting benefits fell to a five-month low.
Ohioans filed 6,255 first-time unemployment claims last week, 24.4% fewer than the week before and the smallest number since the onset of the pandemic, indicating a continued slowdown in the pace of layoffs, according to data the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services provided to the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday.
Approximately 2,058 of those claims have been flagged for more stringent identity verification, to ensure they are not fraudulent, department officials said.
The 36,150 continued traditional claims filed during the week that ended April 30 was 12% fewer than the previous week and the total number of traditional claims filed was 42,405, the lowest since late November.
Ohio’s unemployment rate in March was 4.1% while the national unemployment was 3.6%.
The total number Americans collecting jobless aid is at its lowest level in more than 50 years, although rose by 19,000 last week.
The four-week average for claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, fell by 22.5% in Ohio.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits fell to the lowest level since January 1970.