Jobless Claims Tick Down in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Initial and continued jobless claims are trending back down after an increase at the beginning of the month, newly released numbers show.

Initial jobless claims dipped to 7,218 for the week ended Nov. 20, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. That’s down from 7,913 the week ended Nov. 13, and down from a 11,232-claim spike the week before that.

Continued jobless claims are also down to 40,399 from 41,628 the week ended Nov. 13. Total jobless claims in the state were at 47,617 from the week ended Nov. 20, which is down from 49,541 the week prior.

Ohio’s unemployment rate in October was 5.1% compared to the national rate of 4.6%. The state’s labor force participation rate for that month was 61.2%, compared to the national rate of 61.6%.

Pennsylvania reported 9,867 initial claims for the week ended Nov. 13, according to the most recent data from the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis. That’s up from the 7,741 initial claims reported the week prior.

Continued unemployment claims in the commonwealth ticked down slightly to 98,358 from 98,641 the week ended Nov. 6.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.