The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that Metro Valdosta’s unemployment rate for May was 6.3 percent, up four-tenths of a percentage point from 5.9 percent in April. The rate in May 2014 was 7.4 percent.

The rate rose as the number of jobs declined by 600, or 1.1 percent, in May to 54,900. Most of the job losses came in state government, which include non-contract school employees, as well as in the goods-producing sector, which includes manufacturing and construction. 

However, there was an over-the-year gain of 100 jobs, or 0.2 percent, from 54,800 in May 2014. Most of the job growth came in retail trade. 

The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance declined by 47, or 16.8 percent, to 233 in May. Most of the decrease came in retail trade. Over the year, claims were down by 223, or 48.9 percent, from May 2014.     

Metro Gainesville had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.1 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 7.7 percent. 

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for May was 6.3 percent, up from a revised 6.2 percent in April. It was 7.3 percent in May 2014.