Butler County, like nearly all of its neighboring counties, saw a slight decrease in its unemployment rate in November. Butler County dropped to 3.8 percent in November from 3.9 percent in October. Employment figure analysts pointed to holiday season market fluctuations to explain some of the month's changes within the Pittsburgh region.

Butler County's unemployment rate was again lower than surrounding counties in November, according to newly released data.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's Center for Workforce Information and Analysis released its seasonally updated unemployment numbers for November on Thursday. Butler County's rate, according to the monthly estimations, dropped to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent.

That rate maintains the county's position as having the lowest unemployment rate of all the counties considered members of the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area. Butler County's rate is also lower than rates in bordering Venango, Lawrence, Clarion and Mercer counties, which are not in the Pittsburgh statistical area.

Every county that borders Butler County decreased its unemployment rate in November, except for Westmoreland County, which maintained its 4.4 percent rate.

The state of Pennsylvania, overall, did not reflect this decrease. It posted an increase of 0.1 percent to 4.2 percent.

This is an excerpt — read the full article in Friday's Butler Eagle.