WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate in the D.C. metropolitan area was 4.3 percent in January, up from 4 percent in December.

D.C.’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate a year earlier was 5.1 percent.

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics says unemployment rates fell in 333 of the nation’s metropolitan areas, rose in 43 and were unchanged in 11.

Among big cities, Denver now has the nation’s lowest unemployment rate, at just 3 percent in January. Chicago has the highest big city jobless rate, at 6.7 percent.

Among all cities, Ames, Iowa, and Boulder, Colorado, tied for the lowest, at just 2.5 percent in January.

El Centro, California, remains the metro area with the nation’s highest unemployment rate, at 19.2 percent in January.