Nov. 25--The jobless rate in both Toledo and Lucas County -- and for most counties in northwest Ohio -- rose slightly last month after three straight months of declines, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said yesterday.

Lucas County's rate increased to 11.7 percent in October, up from the 11.3 percent in September. The rate in the city of Toledo climbed to an estimated 12.4 percent, up from 12.1 percent.

An estimated 25,300 people were jobless in Lucas County last month, an increase of 900 from the agency's September estimate. In Toledo, an estimated 17,400 people were unemployed in October, unchanged from September.

The Ohio unemployment rate, released Friday, was 10.5 percent last month, up from 10.1 percent. The U.S. rate was 10.2 percent.

The local trend held across much of northwest Ohio, as 13 of 16 counties had higher unemployment rates after several months of decline. Putnam and Sandusky counties saw drops in their rates. Hancock County's rate stayed flat. The 16 area counties had 92,800 people actively seeking employment, according to state figures.

Williams County continued to have the highest rate in the region, at 14.6 percent. Highest in the state was Highland County, in south central Ohio, at 15.9 percent. Lowest was Geauga County, at 6.7 percent.

The state jobs agency said Ohio has lost almost 112,000 manufacturing jobs in the last 12 months, and an estimated 100,400 jobs in service-related industries.

Ken Mayland, an economist with ClearView Economics in suburban Cleveland, said the uptick "may actually be a good sign," because it shows previously discouraged workers may be restarting their job searches.

"What happened in [September] was that the labor market was so grim that people actually dropped out of the labor force," he said.

"With the economy starting to show some growth, maybe some people that were out of the labor force have come back into the labor force because they're actually looking for work again."

Contact Larry P. Vellequette at: lvellequette@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.

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