A new mobile application from the state of Ohio allows jobseekers to search and apply for jobs using an iPhone, iPad or Android.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services announced the free OhioMeansJobs app on Monday, saying it allows users to search tens of thousands of job openings and internships using a job title, keyword or location.

The app combines state of Ohio data with search and filter tools from Monster.

Ohio's unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in December, a drop from November that officials say can in part be attributed to people who gave up looking for work or otherwise left the labor force.

Eastman Kodak Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  According to the company’s web-site, “the business reorganization is intended to bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad.”  That means turning intellectual property into cash and focusing on its more valuable business lines.

Kodak did not announce job cuts as part of the bankruptcy protection filing. Roughly 600 employees and contractors work at Kodak’s Kettering facility on Research Park.

As part of the restructuring, Kodak says they’ve obtained $950 million dollars in financing from Citigroup, and plans to continue operating through the chapter 11 process. 

One of Ohio's four new casinos is ready to interview candidates as it looks to fill hundreds of jobs.

The casino coming to Toledo holds the first of three job fairs on Tuesday to talk with people who applied for work online. Multiple media outlets report the openings are in food and beverage service, maintenance and janitorial work, security, gaming operations and cashiering.

The Toledo casino had hoped to open in the spring with 1,200 employees. However, a consultant has recommended a delay to allow more time for a licensing investigation.

Ohio voters in 2009 approved casinos for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.

Ohio regulators plan to meet with the operators of two Ohio casinos to talk about a new timetable, now that a consultant has recommended that their openings be delayed.

Consultant Fredric Gushin of Spectrum Gaming told the state Casino Control Commission on Wednesday that more time is needed to investigate the Cleveland and Toledo facilities for licensing.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports commission Chairwoman Jo Ann Davidson said she's optimistic the delays will be a matter of "weeks, not months."

The downtown Cleveland casino had planned to open in March, and the one in Toledo planned to follow in April. But Gushin says that timing was never approved by the commission.

Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has offered his help to end the more than month-old lockout at a Northwest Ohio tire plant.

Multiple news outlets report the Democrat gave a pep talk Monday to Cooper Tire workers gathered at a packed union hall in Findlay.

Brown says he knows the union members are eager to get back to work.

Cooper Tire & Rubber is based in Findlay. In late November it locked out more than 1,000 union members at a factory in its hometown after workers voted down a tentative three-year  contract.

The last talks were held December 13. The union president says negotiations with the company will resume next week.

The boom in drilling for natural gas trapped in layers of shale has been good news for a handful of Ohio companies that supply the type of sand needed for such drilling.

Rob Sidley's family-owned company in northeast Ohio processes sand that is perfect for the drilling process because it's nearly 100 percent quartz as well as round, hard and water resistant.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported Monday that companies like Sidley's have a valuable commodity since 6,000 to 8,000 tons of sand are needed to drill one well.

The process for releasing gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations blasts thousands of gallons of sand- and chemical-laced water into the shale, a process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.