The unemployment rate in Warren County continues to drop — and it’s showing.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the county was 4.5 percent in December.

That’s down from the 4.9 percent in November, and 5.4 percent in October.

It is much lower than the figure of 6.8 percent from December 2020.

“We have seen an increase in the response rates to job postings across the county and region as well,” Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Jim Decker said Tuesday. “There remains a significant need for employees in all sectors of the economy to fill immediately available positions throughout Warren County.”

According to Labor and Industry, there were about 100 more people employed in industry and another 100 in trade in December than there were in November.

Erie County is lagging behind the rest of the region at 5.9 percent.

Meadville was tied with Warren County for the lowest rate. Bradford was very slightly higher at 4.6 percent. Oil City was at 4.7 percent and Forest County at 5.0 percent.

The statewide average was 5.4 percent for the month.

The national rate was 3.9 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 make month-to-month comparisons.