Unemployment rates for the majority of the Shenandoah Valley went up in February.

That's according to numbers released by the Virginia Employment Commission.

The overall increase in the Valley comes despite the state unemployment level dropping to its lowest level since January of 2009.

In the Shenandoah Valley, Page County was the only area which saw a decrease in its unemployment rate for February.

Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta Counties all went up slightly, as did the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton and Waynesboro.

By and large, those increases were only by tenths of a percent.

Florhline Painter, who runs the Workforce Job Center, says the slight increase is not too surprising.

One reason may be the final closure of the Genie Plant in Shenandoah County.

"A lot of the people who work there also are in the Elkton area too which is Rockingham County and that plant is closing down here in May, so that has been dwindling and there's some more layoffs there," Painter explained.

A delay in hiring for seasonal jobs might also be behind the slight increases.

"The seasonal jobs that usually start back up a little bit this time of year have been delayed a week or two," Painter explained. "Some of the people who normally go back to work in the seasonal jobs hasn't been called back yet. They are just starting back in within the last week, so I'm not surprised with that."

Painter says she expects things to get better over the next few months and says the most important thing people looking for a job can do is to not give up.

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