There were 45,000 more Ohioans looking for work in May than there were in April.

The state's unemployment rate jumped to 6.3 percent last month, up from 5.6 percent the month before and higher than the 5.6 percent unemployment rate from one year ago.

Figures released Friday showed the number of unemployed workers in May was 380,000, up from 335,000 in April.

Ohio's rate tops the national rate of 5.5 percent.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says the sharp rise in the unemployment rate from April is largely attributable to the high volume of workers who began or resumed job searches in May.

While the supply of job seekers is outpacing current hiring demands, employment increased last month and is expected to increase in the next quarter.

About one in five Ohio employers expect to grow their work force over the next three months, according to a national survey by the staffing firm Manpower. Just 7 percent expect their payroll to decline between now and September.

In Akron, 23 percent of employers surveyed expect their work force to increase and 10 percent expect to reduce their payroll. Manpower called that a ''favorable job market.''

While hiring activity is expected to be lighter than a year ago, ''employer sentiment about hiring appears to be slightly more encouraging than in the second quarter of 2008 when 20 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 10 percent planned to reduce staff levels,'' Manpower's Akron spokeswoman Jeanne Farmer said in a news release.

In the Akron area, job prospects for the coming quarter appear to be best in construction; durable and non-durable goods manufacturing and education.

Employers in wholesale and retail trades are more likely to reduce staffing levels.

The rate of hiring in Akron, in Ohio and across the country is lower than a year ago, although it is a gradual slowdown that Manpower Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Joerres says is a sign that ''employers have become sophisticated at anticipating their hiring needs.''

The survey indicated that nationally, hiring in five of the 10 industry sectors monitored will decline in the upcoming quarter, making it the weakest employment outlook since the fourth quarter of 2003.

An economic downturn isn't painful for every industry.

SearchPath International, a talent acquisition firm in Cleveland, said the average monthly billing activity of its 60 franchises increased 84 percent between October of 2007 and March of 2008.

''In a down economy, when budgets are tighter, it becomes more critical for companies to have the right people in place,'' SearchPath's CEO Thomas Johnston noted. ''Having top talent is essential.''

Johnston said the Recruiter Confidence Index released by ExecuNet last month supports that trend.

Of the 132 recruiters interviewed for the survey, 61 percent are confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next six months, up from 52 percent last month.