Weekly Jobless Claims Increase

The Labor Department says the number of Ohioans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose by nearly 18 hundred last week, due to layoffs in manufacturing. Ohio had the fifth-highest increase in the nation. The department says overall applications rose by 8 thousand last week to a seasonally-adjusted 339 thousand. The department says 3.52 million Americans received benefits as of January 25th, up from 3.47 million the previous week.