ONTONAGON - Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation has extended the temporary shutdown at its mill.

"The market-related down time at the Ontonagon mill has been extended through the end of May," said Mike Mullin, Smurfit director of media relations and public affairs.

The layoffs began in November and impact approximately 140 employees. Some mill employees have remained on the job to tend to the facility.

Initially, the November layoff was expected to last about a month, but the company said market conditions have forced them to keep extending those layoffs.

Ontonagon County's unemployment rate was 16.9 percent in March, nearly double its March 2008 mark of 9.2 percent, according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth's Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives. The 7.7 percent increase over the past year was the second biggest jump in the Upper Peninsula.

The U.P.'s not seasonally adjusted March 2009 jobless rate of 13.6 percent is slightly higher than the state's 13.4 percent. The national rate is 9 percent.

Layla Aslani can be reached at laslani@mininggazette.com.