Continued jobless claims decline in Ohio for ninth straight week

In a sign that Ohioans are heading back to work, statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Thursday show that for the ninth straight week, continued applications for unemployment benefits have declined, a news release announced.

Those who remain jobless filed 332,681 fewer continued claims last week compared to the peak in April.

“In addition, for the week ending June 27, ODJFS reported 35,623 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 15 weeks (1,430,807) is more than the combined total of those filed during the last three years,” the release said.

Over the last 15 weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $4.7 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 728,000 Ohioans, it added. Of the more than 1 million applications the agency has received, more than 94% have been processed, with less than 6% pending, it said. In addition, ODJFS has issued more than $3.4 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to more than 378,000 PUA claimants, the release added.