Butler County's jobless rate dropped to 4.3% in November, its lowest level in nearly two years.

The county's rate remains the lowest in the seven-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Data released Tuesday by the state Department of Labor & Industry shows Butler's jobless rate dropped 0.8 percentage points — from 5.1% to 4.3% — between October and November. The county's labor force decreased by roughly 700 people in the month, according to the data, while about 100 more workers found employment.

November's 4.3% jobless rate is the lowest in Butler County since January 2020, when 4.2% of county residents were unemployed.

The decrease in the labor force was a theme in the Pittsburgh area, with all seven counties — Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland — seeing a smaller workforce in November. Neighboring counties not included in the statistical area, including Clarion, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango counties, were affected in the same way.

For Butler County, it was the second consecutive month in which the labor force — which includes people who are both employed and unemployed but looking for work — decreased.

The last time Butler's labor force decreased in at least two straight months was in March through May, when the workforce dropped 200 workers per month.

Butler County's labor force in November 2021 is smaller than it was in November 2020 by roughly 800 workers, while about 700 additional county residents are employed this year compared to last.

In the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as a whole, the jobless rate fell 0.2 points to 5.7%, with the area-wide labor force falling by 1.6 million people and 600 more workers finding jobs.

The Pittsburgh area's unemployment rate mirrored the state's, which fell three-tenths of a percent to 5.7%.

Pennsylvania's jobless rate — and even Butler County's — remains higher than the national rate, according to the department's data, which is at 4.2%.

Among the 11 private industry “supersectors” — the broadest groups of industries — jobs decreased only in three of them in the Pittsburgh area between October and November, with the largest decline, 3,300 jobs, in the leisure and hospitality sector.

The department described the drop as “seasonal in nature,” and the data shows a 9,800-job increase from November 2020 to November 2021.

Conversely, the largest increase among supersectors was in the trade, transportation and utilities industries, which had a roughly 3,900-job increase from October to November.