COLUMBUS – The number of Ohioans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 4% last week, a sign that layoffs caused by the shutdown of businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to slow down.
According to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Thursday, 17,983 Ohio workers filed initial jobless claims, the third straight week of declines and the lowest number since the pandemic began six months ago.
The number of initial filings has fallen for seven out of the last eight weeks and is less than 7% of the number recorded at the peak, when stores, restaurants, factories and offices closed wholesale in compliance with state health orders to control the spread of the virus.
Nationwide, jobless claims reached 884,000, far exceeding the number of workers who sought benefits in any week on record before this year.
The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over 25 weeks since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported is 1.68 million and the state has distributed more than $6.3 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 799,000 people.