Delaware's unemployment rate continued to spike in April, according to preliminary data from the state labor department.

The state's jobless rate ticked up to 4.6 percent – a high-water mark not seen since early 2016.

The early data also shows Delaware's unemployment rate surpassing the national rate of 4.4 percent, the first time that has happened since late 2015.

The United State unemployment rate has fallen in three of the last four months – down from 4.7 percent in December. Delaware's rate, however, has been headed in the opposite direction, up from 4.3 percent at the end of last year.

"Evidence has accumulated over the past few months that Delaware's economy has slowed relative to the rest of the nation," state labor department economist George Sharpley said.

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The state's month-to-month data generally shows fluctuations that tend to get ironed out in later revisions.

The preliminary monthly data is based on surveys of about 1,350 businesses and 850 households in Delaware. Later, those numbers are amended using complete payroll reports from nearly 32,000 local companies, which take about five months to collect.

Newly released payroll data now shows that job growth in Delaware has lagged behind the rest of the country since 2015. After gaining 13,000 jobs in 2014 and 8,200 in 2015, the state lost a net 560 jobs last year.

Wages in Delaware also are not keeping pace with the national trend. Average hourly earnings nationwide rose by 2.5 percent in 2016, while slipping 0.3 percent in Delaware.

The hardest hit sector has been in transportation and warehousing, which had been bright spots for the state. Delaware added 6,000 jobs in those sectors from 2011 to 2015, but lost nearly 700 of those jobs in 2016.

Retail, another positive for Delaware in recent years, lost 600 jobs last year as some of the nation's largest stores struggled to compete with online sales.

"Because Delaware is so small, just a few companies adding or not adding jobs can make a huge difference," Sharpley said. "It is still too early to tell if this is just a temporary change or something more fundamental."

Surrounding states are not seeing the same downward trend.

Pennslyvania saw its jobless rate tick up slightly to 4.9 percent in April while New Jersey's rate fell to 4.1. But both states have recorded at least a half-point gain since late 2016. Maryland's rate ticked up to 4.3 percent, but has remained relatively flat since last summer.

Back in Delaware, county-level unemployment rates, which are not seasonally adjusted, did not change from month-to-month in New Castle (4.4 percent) and Kent counties (4.9). Sussex County, which typically begins adding jobs in the spring, saw its rate fall to 4.7 percent from 5.1 a month earlier.

However, all three counties showed a 0.3-percent increase in the jobless rate in April, compared to the same month in 2016.

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.