The local unemployment rate rose more than a full percentage point in May.
Statistics Canada reports that unemployment in the Belleville – Quinte West Census Metropolitan Area rose last month to 5.3 per cent from April’s 4.1.
The Belleville – Quinte West Census Metropolitan Area consists of Belleville, Quinte West, Stirling-Rawdon, and Tyendinaga/Deseronto.
The national rate rose for the first time since August of last year, jumping two-tenths of a percentage point to 5.2 per cent.
It had hovered at five per cent for five straight months.
StatCan says overall employment was little changed last month as the economy lost a modest 17,000 jobs.
The provincial rate increased from 4.9 per cent in April to 5.5 per cent in May.
