New Unemployment Claims in Ohio Drop for 8th Straight Week

COLUMBUS, Ohio – There were 18,642 new unemployment claims filed last, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, a drop of about 3,000 from the previous week.

The week ended May 1 marks the eighth straight week that the number of new claims has dropped. The total is the lowest since the week ended Oct. 24.

There were also 235,647 continued claims filed with the Department of Job and Family Services, down about 7,000 from the previous week. It was the sixth consecutive week of declining claims. 

In the 59 weeks since the pandemic began affecting Ohio, the state has paid $9.7 billion in unemployment compensation to more than 994,000 people, as well as $10.7 billion in pandemic unemployment assistance to those who don’t qualify for traditional benefits, such as part-time workers and the self-employed.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor reported 24,287 initial claims were filed the week ended April 24, an increase of about 2,000 from the previous week. Since the pandemic began, there have been 2,987,296 unemployment claims filed in the state.

The state has paid $42 billion in unemployment compensation as of May 1, including $7.6 billion in traditional benefits and $8.9 billion in pandemic unemployment assistance.

Nationwide, there were 498,000 claims submitted, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that applications declined 92,000 from a revised 590,000 a week earlier. The number of weekly jobless claims — a rough measure of the pace of layoffs — has declined significantly from a peak of 900,000 in January as employers have ramped up hiring.

At the same time, the pace of applications is still well above the roughly 230,000 level that prevailed before the viral outbreak tore through the economy in March of last year.

As vaccinations have been more widely administered, restrictions on businesses have gradually lifted and consumers have become more willing to travel, shop and dine out, stronger spending has boosted hiring, slowed layoffs and accelerated growth. The economy grew last quarter at a vigorous 6.4% annual rate, with expectations that the current quarter will be even better.

In March, employers added nearly 1 million jobs, the most since August. Roughly the same number is expected to be reported Friday when the government issues the jobs report for April. Even so, the economy will still be more than 7 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic level.

The government’s report Thursday showed that about 16.2 million people were continuing to collect unemployment benefits in the week that ended April 17, down from 16.6 million in the previous week. That’s a sign that some former recipients have found jobs.

As economic growth has accelerated, sales of vehicles and newly built homes have soared, manufacturing output has risen and Americans on average have increased their savings and wealth. In part, this is because of $1,400 stimulus checks that were distributed to most adults and in part because many affluent households have built up savings while working from home and have benefited from a surging stock market.

The economy, though, is restarting so quickly that it’s creating supply bottlenecks and parts shortages. Many companies, especially restaurants, can’t find enough applicants to fill available jobs. Others are raising pay to attract more applicants.

Shortages of raw materials and parts have swollen prices for lumber, copper and semiconductor chips, which are critical to the housing and auto industries, among other sectors. Those higher costs, along with wage pressures, have elevated fears that inflation could accelerate.

Analysts have forecast that when the monthly jobs report is released Friday, it will show that the economy added 975,000 jobs in April, according to data provider FactSet, and that the unemployment rate fell from 6% to 5.8%. That would show that more Americans are looking for work and more employers are hiring them.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.