Butler County's unemployment rate slightly increased in December, according to new jobs data.

New unemployment estimates from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's Center for Workforce Information and Analysis show a slight uptick in unemployment in Butler County, but the county still had the lowest rate of any surrounding counties and any county in Pittsburgh's metropolitan statistical area.

The county had a 4 percent unemployment rate in December, up slightly from November's 0.2 percent increase. In December 2017, Butler County's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, according to past estimates.

The largest industry decline was in construction, which is to be expected with seasonal trends, according to a data report published by the center's analyst, Lauren Riegel.

Industry-specific data is available only for the Pittsburgh statistical area, which includes Butler County and six other counties. That area lost 3,600 construction jobs between November and December, according to the report. Still, there were 1,800 more construction jobs in the seven-county area in December 2018 than there were in December 2017.

For the area, a loss of 3,600 jobs is exactly the average loss each December dating back to 2005, when the center first starting collecting that particular statistic, according to Riegel.

The education industry also saw declines in December, with colleges and universities shedding 1,900 jobs between November and December, and general educational services losing another 1,700. That, Riegel said, was also to be expected.

“It typically drops in December and January,” Riegel said Wednesday. “It's mostly due to colleges on winter break.”

In December and January, the area usually loses 2,000 to 3,000 education jobs, she said.

The health care industry saw losses that were comparable to education. Riegel said swings in that industry were typical, and that it might be a typical January dip coming slightly early.

“Health care looks like it's returning to levels from October,” Riegel said.

Butler was not alone in seeing a slight unemployment rate increase. Every bordering county saw similar slight increases to their rates.

The overall unemployment rate for Pennsylvania remained at 4.2 percent in December, according to the center.

There was a slight increase in the U.S. unemployment rate, from 3.7 percent in November to 3.9 percent in December.