More Ohio Unemployment Claims Flagged For Fraud As Investigations Continue wosu.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wosu.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Filings for unemployment benefits had been slowly ticking up in January. But the last two weeks of reported numbers show an explosion of claims. And the state’s job and family services agency is now flagging tens of thousands of claims filed in those last two weeks.
Around 50,000 jobless claims were filed in Ohio in the last week of January. But more than 287,000 jobless claims were filed in the first two weeks of February – 140,444 from January 31 to February 6, and 147,002 from February 7 to February 13.
That s triple the expected number after examining the current trend. Jobless filings since the beginning of December had averaged 36,000 since the end of November, according to an analysis of weekly ODJFS reports from the Statehouse News Bureau.
More Unemployment Claims Flagged For Possible Fraud, Slowing Down Benefits woub.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from woub.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Statehouse News Bureau
Those applying for unemployment compensation, either through the traditional program or the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, can expect delays in receiving their money because of fraud that continues to bog down the system.
Filings for unemployment benefits had been slowly ticking up in January. But the last two weeks of reported numbers show an explosion of claims. And the state’s job and family services agency is now flagging tens of thousands of claims filed in those last two weeks.
Around 50,000 jobless claims were filed in Ohio in the last week of January. But more than 287,000 jobless claims were filed in the first two weeks of February 140,444 from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 and 147,002 from Feb. 7 to 13.
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Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Kim Henderson says this helps most of one particular group:
“Approximately 150,000 existing claimants who have remaining benefit entitlement on their accounts, but who have been unable to claim the up to seven weeks of benefits that they have until we were able to get our programming in place in response to the new law.”
ODJFS can also start processing new PUA claims, for the first time since the program expired on December 26. A federal law passed late last year extends the PUA program till March 14 and adds in $300 in supplemental checks.
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