The March jobless rate was on the rise for Crawford County and other nearby counties.

The not-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Crawford County was 6.8 percent last month compared with 6 percent in March 2015, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Employment increased increased to 18,100 in March from 17,900 in March 2015, while unemployment also increased from 1,100 to 1,300. With an increase in unemployment, the civilian labor force was 19,400 in March compared with 19,100 in March 2015.

In Richland County, unemployment increased to 6.3 percent last month compared with 6 percent in March 2015.

“The March 2015 to March 2016 increase in unemployment in both Crawford and Richland counties is discouraging,” said Cleveland-based economist George Zeller.

In addition, Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in March 2016, up from a revised 5 percent in February. Ohio’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment increased 18,300 over the month, from a revised 5,475,500 in February to 5,493,800 in March 2016.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in March was 294,000, up 9,000 from 285,000 in February. The number of unemployed has increased by 4,000 in the past 12 months from 290,000 with the unemployment rate at 5.1 percent in March 2015.

The U.S. unemployment rate for March was 5 percent, up from 4.9 percent in February and down from 5.5 percent in March 2015.

“Statewide, the increase in seasonally adjusted Ohio unemployment was largely caused by a large increase in the Ohio labor force of 36,000 from February 2016 to March 2016,” Zeller said. “That is not entirely bad news, since the return of 36,000 Ohio workers to the labor force is a sign that the Ohio recovery continues.”

But the Ohio’s job growth rate at 1.82 percent in March was “once again” below the national average at 1.98 percent, he added.

“Particularly disappointing was a loss of jobs in Ohio in all three major high wage blue collar industries. Manufacturing lost 4,300 jobs. Construction lost 1,000 jobs. Mining lost 400 jobs,” Zeller said.

Additionally, the Morrow County jobless rate was 5.6 percent compared with 5.4 percent. The county’s civilian labor force was 17,300 with 16,400 workers employed and 1,000 workers jobless last month, while the labor force was 16,800 with 15,900 workers in employment and 900 without a job.

In Knox County, the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in March compared with 4.9 percent in March 2015.