Ohio reports lowest unemployment claims since beginning of pandemic

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW/AP) – Ohio and national unemployment numbers are the lowest since the start of the pandemic.

In Ohio, there were 23,117 initial jobless claims in the week that ended April 10.

Just over 5% of those have been flagged as fraudulent.

Ohioans filed 265,461 continued jobless claims last week.

Nationally, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to 576,000, a hopeful sign that layoffs are easing as the economy recovers from the pandemic recession.

The Labor Department said Thursday that applications plummeted 193,000 from a revised 769,000 a week earlier.

Jobless claims are now down sharply from a peak of 900,000 in early January.