Jun. 27--HICKORY -- Art Allen lost more than a job when he was laid off from US Airways in October 2002.

After seven years as a well-paid aircraft mechanic, the Michigan native lost a way of life.

"We lost our home, our land, our hopes and dreams," said the 33-year-old Hickory man, who has found only temporary employment since moving here from Raleigh in 2003.

For almost a year, the father of three has been unable to find even that.

"The way the economy is now, I'd do anything, even flip burgers," Allen said Friday afternoon after filling out an online job application at the N.C. Employment Security Commission office on U.S. 70.

"I'm getting no call-backs, nothing. It's discouraging."

Allen has plenty of company.

Unemployment in the Greater Hickory Metro was 15.4 percent in May, up from 14.9 percent in April and 7 percent in May 2008. It is the highest jobless rate among the state's 14 metropolitan statistical areas.

Catawba County's unemployment rate was 15.5 percent in May, up from 15 percent in April. The county's jobless rate peaked at 15.6 percent in March, the highest it had been since 1975.

Other area rates for May were 15.6 percent in Alexander County, up from 14.7 percent in April; 14.9 percent in Burke County, up from 14.6 percent in April; and 15.6 percent in Caldwell County, up from 14.9 percent in April.

Hickory's unemployment rate in May was 13.1 percent, up from 12.4 percent in April. In May 2008, Hickory's jobless rate was 5.8 percent.

Unemployment rates rose in 82 of North Carolina's 100 counties in May, according to statistics released Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

Among the state's 14 metropolitan statistical areas, Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton ranked No. 1 in joblessness for the fifth consecutive month. It was followed by Rocky Mount, where the unemployment rate was 14.2 percent in May.

Coastal Currituck County had the state's lowest unemployment rate in May, at 6.3 percent. Scotland County had the highest jobless rate, at 17.2 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 11.1 percent in May, up from 10.5 percent in April. The national jobless rate was 9.4 percent, up from 8.9 percent in April.

"All of the state's 100 counties continue to be challenged by this recession," said Moses Carey Jr., N.C. Employment Security Commission chairman.

"But in its role to help maintain economic stability in communities across North Carolina, the ESC has paid nearly $3 billion in benefits over the course of a year.