The unemployment rate was up a little bit in January, as can be expected following the retail surge of the holiday season. Shasta County’s 5.4% jobless rate is significantly higher than the 4.1% in December, but it’s still an improvement over last January when it was 6.1%. Although the labor force was down by 200 people at 74,500, there were 400 more people employed. The unadjusted statewide rate was 4.3% and it was 4% nationwide.