It's tough to sugarcoat the latest employment figures for Erie and Crawford counties.

Yes, the unemployment rate in both counties dropped to 5.1 percent in June -- a figure that generally reflects a healthy employment market.

But the report -- which comes from the state's Department of Labor and Industry -- also shows that the local unemployment rate has been dropping, in part, because fewer people are in the job market.

Erie County, for instance, has 1,100 fewer people in its work force than it did one year ago. That's a big number, considering the local work force includes about 141,000 people.

The drop means people have either given up their search for jobs -- or they have moved elsewhere.

And the fact that U.S. Census figures have shown population losses in Erie County during the past two years reinforces the idea that too many people are leaving town -- and not enough are coming in.