The unemployment rate in Warren County went up a tick in June, but it was still the lowest in the region.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the county was 6.1 percent in June.

That was a step back from the 5.7 percent reported in May.

The change is not due to fewer people being employed. According to the department, there was an increase in the number of people employed in the hospitality industry, while all other fields remained about the same.

While there were more people employed in June than in May, there was an even great increase in the labor force, according to L&I.

The June rate was lower than April’s 6.5 percent and far below the rate from June 2020 – 10.6 percent.

Unemployment in Warren County was comparable to that of Meadville – 6.2 percent – and Oil City – 6.3 percent, according to L&I.

The rate was higher (6.9 percent) in Bradford and Forest County as well as Erie (7.1 percent).

The county was well below the state-wide average of 6.9 percent, but slightly higher than the national rate of 5.9 percent.

According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor, seasonal adjustment “is a statistical technique that attempts to measure and remove the influences of predictable seasonal patterns to reveal how employment and unemployment changes from month-to-month.”

“These seasonal adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical, underlying trend and other nonseasonal movements in the series,” making it possible to compare month-to-month.