Ohio unemployment claims climb another 60,000

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — More than 60,000 unemployment claims were filed in Ohio during the last week. 

According to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, 61,083 more unemployment claims were filed in Ohio for the week ending May 2.  

The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last seven weeks of 1,118,569 is 1,112 more than the combined total of 1,117,457 for the last three years. 

Over these last seven weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $1.9 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 536,000 Ohioans.

In the U.S., roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is the equivalent of one in five Americans who had been employed back in February, when the unemployment rate had reached a 50-year low of just 3.5%.

ODJFS is asking individuals to file their claims online at unemployment.ohio.gov.