OHIO — The decline continues with Ohio's unemployment filing numbers, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

There were 4,799 initial unemployment claims last week, a drop of 146 filings from the week of Aug. 18 to Aug. 24. There were 703 claims flagged for identity verification to ensure fraud is not occurring.

Claims also dropped for continued unemployment claims to 41,563, dropping 1,460 from last week.

The total number of claims for Aug. 18 to Aug. 24 was 46,362.

In July, Ohio's unemployment rate was 4.5% while the country's unemployment rate was 4.3%. Ohio's labor force participation rate for July was 62.3%, and the national rate was 62.7%.

Correction: A previous version of this story referred to an incorrect year for unemployment claim numbers. The error has been corrected. (Aug. 30, 2024)