The coronavirus continues to impact the Buckeye State’s economy and our workforce as more than 272,000 Ohioans filed for unemployment benefits during the week ending on March 28 according to the latest report from the US Department of Labor. This brings the two week total of unemployment filings in Ohio to over 468,000.

In the United States, unemployment compensation filings doubled in one week to 6.6 million Americans. This week’s filings also broke the record for the number of unemployment claims that was set just last week.

Ohio’s workforce was particularly hit hard; only Pennsylvania had a larger increase in number of claims than our state.

The figures reported during this period reflect the impact of Ohio’s stay at home order which closed all non-essential businesses and the public health order that prohibited on-site food and beverage consumption at Ohio bars and restaurants.   

In the Ohio Chamber’s blog last Thursday on the weekly unemployment numbers, we mentioned that despite these record-breaking numbers, employers will see some relief from higher unemployment compensation taxes in the future thanks to Governor DeWine’s Executive Order holding employer experience ratings harmless and mutualizing all benefit cost during the state of emergency.

Next week’s numbers may continue to increase, or we could see a leveling off on the number of claim filings since no public health or executive orders have been issued this week that have forced more businesses to close or alter their operations.