Ohio Weekly Unemployment Claims Increase

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohioans filed 23,090 initial traditional unemployment claims last week, which was 1,784 more than the previous week, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Thursday.

State residents also filed 42,915 continued traditional unemployment claims the week of July 2-8, which was 3,291 fewer than the previous week.

Of the initial unemployment claims filed, 15,045 have been flagged for more stringent identity verification to ensure they are not fraudulent. There were 6,055 initial unemployment claims flagged the previous week. The number of flagged claims increased significantly due to a recent increase in suspicious activity, which has been identified and addressed, the JFS report states.

In May, Ohio’s unemployment rate was 3.6%. The national unemployment rate was 3.7%. Ohio’s labor force participation rate in May was 62.1%. The national labor force participation rate was 62.6%.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.