BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Kern County Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop said on social media that the Kern, Inyo and Mono Local Workforce Development Area has averaged about 1,000 unemployment insurance claims per week.

Alsop tweeted that nearly 17,000 people filed for unemployment in the week ending March 28, and almost 14,000 claims were filed the week ending April 4 for those areas.

A news release in late March from the state Employment Development Department showed the unemployment rate in Kern was 9.1 percent for February, up from 8.6 percent in January. The department said those numbers are compared with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 4.3 percent for California and 3.8 percent for the country.