Local initial unemployment claims rise again

MEDINA — Initial unemployment claims rose last week after falling the week prior in Medina and Lorain counties as well as statewide, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. For the week ending Sept. 17, there were 66 initial unemployment claims filed in Medina County. It is six more claims than the previous week and is the second week in a row when the number of claims fell between 60 and 70 claims. Yet, the four-week average for Medina County is higher than last week's numbers at around 70 claims. The average is made higher because during the week ending Sept. 3, there were 95 claims. The three other weeks out of the month had fewer than 70 claims. There was a larger jump in the number of claims in Lorain County last week. It amounted to 152 initial unemployment claims being submitted in the county for the week ending Sept. 17, which was 28 more claims than the week prior. Lorain County's four-week average is lower than last week at approximately 141 claims. The number of initial unemployment claims statewide went past 6,000 claims again last week after dropping. There were 6,419 initial unemployment claims received throughout the state of Ohio for the week ending Sept. 17, which is 465 more claims than the week before. Last week's numbers exceeded the statewide average for the past four weeks, which is about 6,269 claims. Statewide continued claims also increased after many weeks of slowly decreasing. For the week ending Sept. 17, there were just over 28,000 continued claims in Ohio, which is 326 more claims than the previous week. The four-week average for continued claims across the state is nearly 28,500 claims. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.