Initial unemployment claims in California jumped last week and are now far above normal levels, raising uncertainty about the extent that the statewide economy has recovered from coronavirus-linked maladies.

California workers filed about 68,100 jobless claims during the week that ended on Aug. 14, up 2,600 from the 65,500 claims that they filed during the seven days ending on Aug. 7, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Unemployment claims statewide have now increased for a period of four consecutive weeks and are at their highest levels in three months.

In contrast to the dreary pattern of California jobless claims, unemployment filings in the United States fell again and are at their lowest levels since the onset of government-ordered business lockdowns to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.

U.S. workers filed 348,000 initial unemployment claims for the week ending on Aug. 14, a decrease of 29,000 from the week before.

The jobless filings that were posted last week in California are a staggering 52% higher than the last time the statewide economy was deemed to be healthy.

During January 2020 and February 2020, the final two months before the onset of shutdowns to battle the deadly bug, unemployment claims averaged 44,800 a week in California, this news organization’s analysis of the filings shows.