Jobless rates in Cattaraugus, Allegany and Chautauqua counties all jumped above the 6 percent mark in November, the New York State Department of Labor reported Wednesday.

In Cattaraugus County, the rate jumped nine-tenths of a percent to 6.1 percent last month, up from 5.2 percent in October.

The September unemployment rate was 5.3 percent. A year ago, the November unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent, a half of a percent lower.

Labor Department analyst John Slenker said it appears “more people entered the labor force looking for work” in Cattaraugus County, driving up the unemployment rate.

November employment in Cattaraugus County was 32,900, up 0.2 percent from 32,700 a year ago.

“The labor force going up is not necessarily a bad thing,” Slenker said in an interview from Buffalo. “It represents more people looking for work. Actually, it’s a good sign.”

The 6.1 percent rate in November translates to about 2,200 residents, according to the Department of Labor. The November 2016 rate of 5.6 percent represented about 2,000 people looking for work.

As the Southern Tier populations grow older, all three counties have experienced problems with growth. The increase in the numbers of people looking for work does not appear to be from a big decrease in jobs, but people looking to enter the labor force, Slenker said.

“This is a good sign,” he said of the additional people looking for jobs. “A lot is due to the holiday season.”

“There’s a lot of movement within the economy” throughout the year, Slenker said. As the fall season ends, the winter ski season gets underway with hundreds of jobs. “This looks good.”

In Allegany County, the November unemployment rate was 6.5 percent as compared to 5.8 percent a year ago, a 0.7 percent increase.

The September 2017 unemployment rate in Allegany County was 5.4 percent. It increased to 5.5 percent in October. The number of unemployed in November 2017 was 1,300, up 100, or 0.7 percent, from November 2016.

There were 19,100 people who were employed in Allegany County in November, up 0.2 percent from 18,900 with jobs a year ago.

In Chautauqua County, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in November, up from 5.8 percent a year ago. There are 3,400 unemployed, up from 3,200 a year ago, The total number of jobs in November was 51,800, the same as November 2016.

(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)