Since the pandemic began in March, Ohio paid 821 thousand regular unemployment claims and 608 thousand claims for federally funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
At times, filers have been frustrated over not being able to file or get their questions answered. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports on what's being done to help with that system now.
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Kim Hall says the agency has added more employees to help unemployed Ohioans.
“We recently added 300 call center agents and adjudicators to our team to help with the historic volume of calls and claims and we are in the process of bringing on 300 more.”
Hall says more than 4,000 Ohioans have used the new service that allows them to text weekly claims to the department. A law signed earlier this month would allow Auditor Keith Faber to review the unemployment application system and recommend changes to the process.