The jobless rate in Georgia leaped last month to the highest level it has reached in May since 1993.

The official rate rose from 5.3 percent in April to 5.8 percent in May, paralleling the large leap taken by the national unemployment rate.

"Georgia's May unemployment report confirms that we are facing an increasingly difficult economic environment," said Michael Thurmond, state labor commissioner.

Higher unemployment rates often mean that the labor market has weakened. However, economists consider the rate to be a lagging and somewhat inexact indicator.

A slowing economy typically does not immediately shove jobless rates much higher. On the other hand, an improving economy is often accompanied by rising rates as more people seek work.

Critics often argue that the official jobless rate understates problems. It does not include people who are out of work and have not been looking for a job. And it does not include people who have worked even a little bit in the past month.

Moreover, the jobless rate is calculated from a more limited survey than the one that produces the monthly figure on job growth.

But watched over the months as a trend, the jobless rate often tells an important story.

Georgia's jobless rate is up about a third from a year ago, when it was 4.4 percent. It notched up to 4.5 percent in September and stayed there through the rest of the year. But starting in January, the rate began trending higher.

At the same time, other indicators showed economic growth slowing.

May's increase was pegged to "layoffs in manufacturing and other industries," Thurmond said.

Nationally, payrolls have been dropping since December, but in Georgia, about 9,400 jobs were added to the economy. However, that modest job growth did not keep pace with the number of people seeking work, he said. The number of unemployed in Georgia rose to 284,816, the highest level ever.

Metro Atlanta added most of the new jobs: 5,800, the Labor Department said.

Second place went to Savannah, where payrolls expanded by 700 jobs. Behind that was Columbus, which added 600 jobs.

The largest job loss by a metro region during the month was that of Augusta, which shed 700 jobs.

The job growth figure includes workers holding more than one job, according to the department.

Georgia's jobless rate of 5.8 percent remains slightly above the national rate, which was 5.5 percent in May.

The rate has been adjusted to account for seasonal variations, officials said.