Published: June 30, 2009 11:35 pm      

Kokomo tops U.S. jobless rate increase

WASHINGTON — Unemployment rates rose in all the largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month in May.

The Labor Department says jobless rates in May rose from a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas it tracks.

The unemployment rate in Kokomo jumped to 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percentage points from a year ago, the largest increase of all metro areas. The second-highest jump occurred in Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen. Its rate jumped to 17.5 percent, up 11.4 percentage points from a year earlier. Both areas have been slammed by layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing.