More people were unemployed in Lorain County in January than a month earlier.

The county’s jobless rate increased from 9.4 percent in December to 11 percent in January, according to figures released Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

In addition, the county’s two largest cities — Elyria and Lorain — both saw increases in their unemployment level.

In Elyria, those without jobs rose from 9.6 percent in December to 11.1 percent in January. In Lorain, that rate rose from 10.9 percent in December to 12.3 percent in January.

The increases mirror a trend across the state, which saw all but one of the 88 counties notch higher unemployment rates.

The rate in Hardin County remained constant.

Brian Harter, public information officer for the state agency, said a major rise in county-by-county joblessness is not uncommon for the period of January through March.

“It is definitely a seasonal thing due to the drop in holiday employment and possibly enhanced somewhat by the recession,” Harter said.

He said in the past five years, jobless claims have risen about 30 percent or more from December to January.

“Christmas is over, retail tightens up, and construction jobs are usually on hiatus because of the weather,” he said.

Tom Payne, manager of Minute Men Staffing Services in Elyria, said he’d normally start seeing an uptick in business this time of the year. So far, that isn’t happening.

“Things are getting worse,’’ he said. “I can’t put it into specific figures, but there’s a noticeable difference. I see a lot more people coming in looking for work.”

Minute Men Staffing typically finds temporary workers for employers such as Lorain County Community College and Oberlin College, as well as positions in warehousing, machine shops and other light industrial factories.

“Businesses pretty much everywhere have cut back,” Payne said. “It’s slow everywhere.”

The unemployment rate increased in all neighboring counties.

Erie County rose from 12.8 percent in December to 14.2 percent in January. Ashland County’s joblessness went up from 13.2 percent in December to 14 percent in January.

Cuyahoga County saw a 1.2 percent increase from 9 percent to 10.2 percent.

Huron County, where unemployment rates have consistently been among the state’s highest for well over a year, was one of seven counties with a January jobless rate topping 18 percent. The county’s jobless figure stood at 18.3 percent in January, up from December’s 16.1 percent.

Medina County, which has consistently ranked among the state’s counties with the highest employment figures, experienced an increase of 1.6 percent in its unemployment rate from December, but still tied with Union County for the state’s lowest jobless figure at 9.8 percent.

Statewide, the jobless rate was 10.8 percent in January, up from 8.6 percent in January 2009, according to state data released Wednesday.

Payne said he doesn’t foresee the county or region rebounding any time soon, at least from his perspective.

“It may get a little worse before it gets better. It could be at least a year,” he said.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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