by J.D. Davidson
Ohio had the slowest weekly unemployment claims recovery in the nation last week, based on a new report from the personal finance website WalletHub.
The report compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia over three metrics: changes in claims during the latest week compared with 2019 and 2020 and changes in claims filed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic versus the previous year.
Based on the data, Ohio ranked 51st out of 51 in recovery over the latest week and 37th since the pandemic began. Ohio ranked behind Colorado, West Virginia, Mississippi and Virginia in weekly recovery.
“Different states have reopened at different rates, and we likely won’t see a full reopening nationwide until the majority of the population is vaccinated,” WalletHub’s Adam McCann wrote in the report.
Ohio’s unemployment claims for the week of March 1 jumped more than 1,800% compared with 2019 and more than 1,000% compared with Jan. 1, 2020. Compared with the beginning of the pandemic, Ohio unemployment claims are up 816.24%, the 15th-slowest recovery in the country.
The state has the worst recovery rate compared with the same week in 2019 and the worst since the start of 2020.
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. He is regional editor for The Center Square.
