More than 71,000 seek unemployment benefits last week
Staff report
Ohioans filed 4,911 initial unemployment claims the week of Feb. 15-21, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Thursday.
That number was 1,994 fewer than the previous week. Approximately 1,016 of those have been flagged to ensure they are not fraudulent.
Ohioans filed 66,262 continued unemployment claims last week, which was 544 fewer than the previous week. The total number of claims filed last week was 71,173.
Ohio’s unemployment rate in December was 4.5%. The national unemployment rate in December was 4.4%. Ohio’s labor force participation rate in December was 62.3%. The national labor force participation rate in December was 62.4%.