Unemployment rates rose last month in more than half of the biggest U.S. metropolitan areas, driven higher by weak private-sector hiring and natural disasters, the government reported Wednesday. The unemployment rate increased in 210 cities in May, decreased in 131 cities, and remained unchanged in 37, the Labor Department said in a report that showed a sharp reversal from April, when unemployment rates fell in more than 90 percent of metropolitan areas. Nationally, the unemployment rate rose slightly in May to 9.1 percent, as employers added only 54,000 jobs. In the previous three months, employers had added an average of 222,000 jobs per month. Tornadoes and flooding closed some companies in the southern United States in late April and May, and a parts shortage resulting from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan affected U.S. auto production.
