Ohio Taps $3.1 Billion U.S. Loan as Unemployment Fund Runs Out

As Ohio’s unemployment insurance fund ran dry the state announced it was going to the federal government and seeking a roughly $3.1 billion loan to cover soaring costs caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

From mid-March through May, the state received 1,292,413 initial jobless claims and paid out more than $3.5 billion to more than 600,000 claimants. This drained a fund that was already suffering and in need of help, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said during a news conference Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.

“We’ve got a long-term structural problem that needed to be fixed before the coronavirus,” DeWine said. Even without ...