Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Ohio has recovered $150 million in fraudulent unemployment claims
The director of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services recently announced the department is working with state and federal law enforcement to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims and billions more in overpayments that are not fraudulent in nature. From the beginning of the pandemic through May 2021, Ohio […]
Without supporting data, Ohio to end federal unemployment supplement
Citing fears that a $300-a-week federal unemployment supplement was keeping Ohioans from returning to the workforce, Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday announced that he would end it. However, the governor was unable to cite any data showing that businesses’ trouble finding workers was due to the supplement and not other dislocations caused by the coronavirus […]
Ohio to boost rapid, at-home coronavirus testing
As Ohio struggles with a painfully limited supply of coronavirus vaccine, it is spending $50 million on rapid, at-home tests in order to quickly detect hot spots as they emerge. Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday announced the deal to purchase 2 million of the BinaxNow tests manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. A digital health platform called […]
Let’s celebrate working people by unrigging the economy
This Labor Day will be different. If they happen at all, most parades and cookouts will be smaller and socially distanced. One way we’ll celebrate, though, is by reflecting on the incredible acts of selflessness and generosity performed by Ohio’s working people during this pandemic — from the ICU nurse in Cleveland tending to a […]
Official unemployment rate doesn’t capture enormity of COVID-19 labor force fallout
We know COVID-19 has hurt workers, especially service industry workers, hard. A recent poll of Ohio economists conducted by my firm found 38 of 40 economists think the economic fallout of COVID-19 will fall disproportionately on low- and middle-income families, with economists citing the labor market structure as the major culprit of this inequitable outcome. […]
Ohio unemployment dips down to 8.9% in July
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 8.9% in July 2020, down from a revised 11.0% in June, according to a release last week from the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 62,700 over the month, from a revised 5,038,400 in June to 5,101,100 in July 2020, the release said. […]
Trump’s $400 a week jobless aid could be just $300. It depends on where you live.
Governors, lawmakers and state unemployment agencies on Monday wrestled with confusion created by President Donald Trump’s executive action extending unemployment benefits, and it appeared some states could settle for $300 a week in benefits instead of the $400 that the president touted. State leaders from both political parties remained unsure how much they’d have to […]
Trump moves to extend unemployment benefits, suspend payroll taxes after talks break down
President Donald Trump on Saturday circumvented Congress and took action into his own hands, after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations over another coronavirus relief package on Capitol Hill. He signed three presidential memoranda and an executive order, at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. Trump would provide $300 per week in federal unemployment assistance with another $100 […]
As lawmakers squabble over unemployment, jobless workers face a big hit
Congress is continuing to squabble over whether to extend a federal supplement to unemployment insurance and if they do, by how much. But as they argue over whether to continue the supplement at $600-a-week level or some fraction of that, out-of-work Americans are left to worry whether they can survive on state benefits that often […]
Senate Republicans pursue benefits pay cut for jobless; adjourn without action
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders slammed Republicans Friday for leaving in the lurch millions of jobless Americans who are relying on enhanced unemployment benefits to stay financially afloat amid ongoing public health and economic crises. Republicans in Congress and the White House were engaged in heated negotiations this week over the details of their party’s proposal for a fifth […]
Extra $600/wk in unemployment benefits must not be allowed to expire
For working people who have been laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment support from the federal government has been a lifeline — helping them keep food on the table and a roof over their head. It’s kept people spending money — supporting the state and local economy, too. As the number of coronavirus cases […]
Ohio unemployment dipped in June; remains three times higher than last summer
Ohio’s unemployment rate dipped significantly last month — hitting its lowest percentage since the coronavirus pandemic stunted the state’s labor force in March — but unemployment numbers remain nearly three times that of last summer. According to a monthly report by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Ohio’s unemployment rate was 10.9% in June […]