Ohio unemployment claims top 850,000 in the last month

COLUMBUS (WCMH/AP) — The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services says more than 850,000 unemployment claims have been received in the last month.  

According to the ODJFS, for the week ending April 11, 158,678 initial jobless claims were reported to the U.S. Dept. of Labor. The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last four weeks stands at 855,197. 

To put that in perspective, the total for the last four weeks of claims is 139,685 more than the combined total of 715,512 for the last two years. 

The ODJFS says it has distributed more than $227 million in unemployment compensation payments to more than 271,000 claimants. 

Nationally, roughly 22 million have sought jobless benefits in the past month — easily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record.