Virtually all regional and state jobless rates increased in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, while one state had a rate decrease. Over the year, jobless rates were up in 44 states and the District of Columbia and down in 6 states. The national unemployment rate rose from 5.0 in April to 5.5 percent in May, a full percentage point higher than a year earlier.