Unemployment in Delaware remains low overall, but it has gone up in the past year for men over the age of 65.
For the third straight month, the statewide unemployment rate rests at a 30-year low of 3.2%.
But state Department of Labor officials point out unemployment among senior men has risen sharply compared to recent years. Since the recession that group has averaged an unemployment rate of 1.6%. In the past year the rate has spiked to 5.8% and about 1,000 senior men in Delaware are looking for work, according to survey data.
This trend is not apparent on the national level where the rate for senior male unemployment dropped from 3.3% last year to 3.1% this year.
Officials say Delaware is also seeing a decrease in the number of people entering the workforce.
There were only an average of 800 new entries per month over the past year, and the state averaged about three times that rate over the previous six years.
The national unemployment rate rose in June from 3.6% to 3.7%.