Feb. 8--Thirteen months ago, Patrick Case was laid off from his job as a used car lot manager in Florida.

"The housing boom was going south, which affected the car business, which cost me my job," he said. "Ultimately, I had to sell my house and the whole nine yards."

He returned to his North Dakota roots, specifically to Northwood where his father lived. Family was one reason for relocating. Job security was another.

"My research showed that North Dakota hadn't been hit yet by the bad economy," Case said. "I figured I could find gainful employment here."

He found it in September at Northwood Mills, a canola-crushing plant. But the job was short-lived. A month ago, he and 25 co-workers were laid off when the plant was shut down. The faltering economy cut into the demand for petroleum products, which had a domino effect on the market for oilseeds used for biodiesel.

For Case, this once-insulated region was not the job safe haven he had anticipated. The most recent North Dakota Job Service statistics show that he isn't alone.

January claims high

January found 6,646 initial unemployment claims filed to Job Service statewide. That's a 44 percent increase from the 4,684 initial claims filed in January 2008. December had about 2,500 more initial claims than December 2007. The most accurate way to gauge unemployment is comparing months because many jobs are seasonal.

The Grand Forks office has seen a more dramatic increase, from 315 unemployment filings in January 2008 to 499 in January of this year, a 58 percent hike.

"I can't say whether that's indicative of the national downturn headed our way," said Darren Brostrom, the state director of unemployment insurance. "There could be a large percentage that is off for a short furlough. Who make up that 184 jump in claims would tell more of a story than the number itself.

"But 184 is a significant increase."

The hike in unemployment claims appears to run counter to Thursday's announcement of the state and region's unemployment rates. Statewide, and in the Grand Forks region, the December unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, a microscopic increase from the 3.3 percent for both 12 months ago.

But those unemployment rates were computed from statistics through Dec. 13.

"As we all know, a lot has happened (in the eight weeks) since then," said Keith Reitmeier, Job Service regional manager in Grand Forks.