Ohioans filed 27,937 initial jobless claims last week, according to statistics the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) reported to the U.S. Dept. of Labor Thursday.

This was 246,278 fewer than the peak earlier this year. Ohioans filed 423,452 continued jobless claims last week, which were 352,850 fewer than the peak earlier this year.

The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 19 weeks — 1,557,787 — was more than the combined total of those filed during the last three years.

Over the last 19 weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $5.7 billion in unemployment compensation payments to more than 764,000 Ohioans. Of the more than 1 million applications the agency has received, about 94% have been processed, with about 6% pending.

In addition, ODJFS has issued more than $4.7 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments to more than 492,000 PUA claimants.

As a reminder, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation payments of $600 per week, made possible by the federal CARES Act, expired July 25. Congressional authorization would be needed to reinstate this program.

Individuals can visit OhioMeansJobs.com or contact their local OhioMeansJobs center to find and apply for job openings, take skill and career interest assessments, create or improve their resumes, and practice interviewing.

To find contact information for your nearest OhioMeansJobs center, go to jfs.ohio.gov/county or visit OhioMeansJobs.com and click on the icon for OhioMeansJobs centers.