The phrase "a small uptick in" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a slight increase or improvement in a particular metric or situation.
Example: "There has been a small uptick in sales this quarter compared to the last."
Alternatives: "a slight increase in" or "a minor rise in".
On the retail side, things have stabilized; we're seeing a small uptick in leasing activity.
Midwest sales fell slightly, and there was a small uptick in the Northeast.
There was a small uptick in factory output in 2013 and 2014 but that has now gone into reverse.
"When there is a small uptick in crime, it tends to look more prominent because the base level is so low," Mayor Alex Knopp said.
And even a small uptick in the unemployment rate would allow the G.O.P. candidate to argue that Obama's "Morning in Americia" rhetoric is massively overblown.
The latest unemployment report offered a mixed bag on the economy with stronger than expected job growth combined with a small uptick in the jobless rate.
A smaller uptick in the early 2000s also followed liberalising measures, enacted a decade before to stave off hyperinflation.
That might not sound like much, but, because LARC methods (unlike condoms or the Pill) are more than ninety-nine per cent effective, even a relatively small uptick in usage can have an impact.
Gasoline then, with a small uptick due to the Gulf War of 1991, declined to $1.35/gal in 1998.
Romney, by contrast, issued a statement calling the small uptick in the unemployment rate in Friday's report "a hammer blow" to middle class families.
While rising confidence seems to move in line with consumption growth, said Amna Asaf, an economist at Capital Economics, "it appears that the small uptick in November's consumer confidence is unlikely to provide much of a boost to consumer spending.
