Ohio saw another 108,801 people file for unemployment claims last week, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
Nationally, America saw 4.4 million people file for unemployment benefits as people continue to lose jobs due to state lockdown orders, the Department of Labor numbers show.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreck havoc on Ohio’s economy as 964,566 Ohioans have asked for government assistance over the last five weeks. During this same time period, more than 26 million people have filed for unemployment assistance, according to PBS.
Ohio accounts for almost four percent of the nation’s unemployed throughout the last five weeks.
The positive news from this bleak situation is that the unemployment claim numbers from the week of April 18 decreased by 48,417 from the week of April 11.
The ODJFS estimates that last month’s unemployment rate in Ohio was 5.5 percent, which is up from 4.1 percent in February.
As more and more Ohioans continue to ask help, the state government is having a hard time getting residents their $600 paycheck. The Dayton Daily News reported that hundreds of thousands of Ohioans are still waiting for their checks.
According to Fox 8, ODJFS that only 376,000 people have received unemployment checks.
To address these problems, ODJFS created a new weekly claim filing process for unemployment benefits. Starting April 26, “individuals filing weekly claims should do so on the day of the week specified below, based on the first letter of their last name,” according to the ODJFS press release.
- Sunday: A through H
- Monday: I through P
- Tuesday: Q through Z
- Wednesday: All
- Thursday: All
- Friday: All
- Saturday: All
“The new process will help relieve pressure on our system so that claims can be filed more easily and paid more quickly,” ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall said. “Once a claim is processed, payment can be made by direct deposit within three business days.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Star News Digital Media. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “Unemployment Office” by Burt Lum. CC BY 2.0.
