Jul. 25--HICKORY -- Kenneth Love has worked in construction, in the region's furniture and textile industries, and for the last nine years was maintenance director at an assisted living center.

Since losing his job in early June, the 50-year-old Maiden man has been unable to find a job that pays enough to cover the bills.

"You can get a job at minimum wage, but when you've got five people depending on you, that's not nearly enough," Love said.

"You can't feed 'em on seven and a quarter an hour."

Love was at the N.C. Employment Security Commission office on U.S. 70 Friday afternoon, checking the bulletin boards and searching online for job openings.

Pickings were slim.

Unemployment in the Greater Hickory Metro was 15.4 percent in June, up slightly from a revised rate of 15.3 percent in May and 7.4 percent in June 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 June, up from 15.4 percent in May. The county's jobless rate peaked at 15.6 percent in March, the highest it has been since 1975.

Other area rates for June were 15.4 percent in Alexander County, down from 15.5 percent in May; 14.9 percent in Burke County, up from 14.8 percent in May; and 15.6 percent in Caldwell County, up from 15.5 percent in May.

Hickory's unemployment rate in June was 12.8 percent, down from 13.1 percent in May. In June 2008, Hickory's jobless rate was 6.3 percent.

In June, unemployment rates increased in 56 of North Carolina's 100 counties, decreased in 32 counties and remained the same in 12, 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 sixth consecutive month. It was followed by Rocky Mount, where the June unemployment rate was 14.4 percent, up from 14.2 percent in May.

Coastal Currituck and Hyde counties had the state's lowest unemployment rate in June, at 6.2 percent.

Scotland County had the highest jobless rate, at 17.2 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 11 percent in June, down slightly from 11.1 percent in May.

The national jobless rate was 9.5 percent, up from 9.4 percent in May.

Outside of a few counties, there wasn't a lot of change in the rates going up or down in North Carolina, said Moses Carey Jr., N.C. Employment Security Commission chairman.

"We are seeing some summer hiring, but not at the pace in previous years," Carey said.