Have we hit bottom yet? Worse job news suggests not. George Zeller today reported new unemployment claims as “alarmingly high and still accelerating in Ohio.”

The figures, he writes in his 12-page report, means that Cuyahoga County, the Cleveland-Akron-Lorain-Elyria area and Ohio are all still losing employment during early June 2009 and “at an accelerating rate.” Not good news for the state or northeastern Ohio.

“The data for the new week were once again extremely discouraging in the U. S. nationally, and they were once again alarmingly unfavorable in Ohio. The level of new claims in Cuyahoga County remained disturbingly high in a new week.”

Zeller writes that the number of weekly new claims for unemployment in Cuyahoga County “should be less than 1,000” at this time. However, this week’s figure is 2,140, is at a level more than double the norm. Job growth at this time would normally be at a level of 7,023, making the losses more disturbing.

So, the bleak jobs picture remains dismal for the State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County and surrounding counties in this area.

How does anyone measure the human costs? Don’t see much in the news media that tells us the story of how our people are suffering under these economic conditions.

Zeller, an economic research analyst, has been compiling these figures and other economic figures for years about employment and poverty for various agencies.

The full report is available here: http://www.nacs.net/%7Egeorgez/newclaims060609.pdf