Ohio Unemployment Claims Decline

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment insurance benefits in Ohio fell by nearly 23-hundred last week due to fewer layoffs in the manufacturing, transportation, and financial industries.

Nationally, claims fell by 22-thousand to a seasonally adjusted 344-thousand. The four-week average of claims has steadily declined since November. U.S. employers have added an average of 200-thousand jobs per month from November through January, up from 150-thousand in the previous three months.