During Tuesday’s update from the Muskingum County Joint Unified Command Center, Matt Abbott, Director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority, announced unemployment had reached near-record highs of 13.6 percent for the week ending Saturday, April 18.

Abbott said during his address that Muskingum County is very fortunate to have a diverse economy in manufacturing, food processing, logistics, transportation, construction and oil and gas, elaborating that while one sector might see a decline, other parts are able to ‘pick up the slack.’

“We have gone from record unemployment to an unemployment rate this is close to our 10-year high,” Abbot said in referencing the sudden economic shift from earlier this year to unemployment rates that rival only that of the very worst months of the Great Recession.

As Y-City News has previously reported, Governor Mike DeWine announced Monday his schedule to slowly reopen Ohio, beginning May 1 with the healthcare industry.

Abbott says that decision is huge for the local economy as the largest employer in the county is in the healthcare industry. According to Genesis’ website, the healthcare system employs over 3,700 people.

According to Abbott, the Payment Protection Program has been very popular with local businesses, many of whom are working with their local accountants or banks. When funds for the program ran out, Abbott said many local banking institutions had businesses in their queue that were unable to get funded during the first round.

“We encourage any business that is still seeking funds, that didn’t receive funds in the first round, to contact their local banking institution, their local accountant to get on the list,” said Abbott.

The program gives funding to businesses to continue to operate at very low interest rates. If 75 percent of funds are used to pay employees, the loan can be converted to a grant and forgiven.

Thursday morning, the State of Ohio will release updated unemployment data for the week ending Saturday, April 25. Abbott expects the number to increase slightly but feels that unemployment is “at its peak levels as we begin to call people back to work.”