PORTLAND — Maine’s unemployment rate has crept upward to 3.7 percent in June.

The state Department of Labor says the preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was up from 3.5 percent in May. It is down from 4.4 percent a year ago.

The nationwide unemployment rate of 4.9 percent was down from 5 percent in April and 5.3 percent a year ago.

Maine’s unemployment rate was lower than the New England rate of 4.4 percent. The lowest rate in the region was in New Hampshire, where it was 2.8 percent. The highest rate of 5.8 percent was in Connecticut.