WASHINGTON --- Layoffs tied to the troubled housing and autos industries clobbered the West and Midwest in May and helped raise unemployment rates in all the largest metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month.

All 372 metro areas saw joblessness rise in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The highest rates -- of at least 15 percent -- were concentrated in metro areas in California, Michigan and Indiana.

Companies likely will remain reluctant to hire back workers even if the recession ends later this year. That means the unemployment rates in most metro areas probably will rise in the months ahead -- a potential obstacle to a hoped-for recovery.

"The themes that are dominating this worsening labor market are problems in housing and autos, which have forced companies to cut jobs," said economist Ken Mayland, the president of ClearView Economics. "Unfortunately, there are still more layoffs to come."

Employment at factories, construction companies, retailers and financial services has been hit especially hard.

Kokomo, Ind., a manufacturing hub, suffered the biggest gain in unemployment in May. Its rate zoomed to 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percentage points from a year ago. Much of the loss came from furloughs at four Chrysler plants that had been shut down as part of the auto company's bankruptcy proceedings. Local government leaders want to diversify the area's economy and attract other industries to employ out-of-work engineers, technicians and others.

El Centro, Calif., again posted the highest unemployment rate in the country -- 26.8 percent. Following were Yuma, Ariz., with a jobless rate of 23.3 percent, and Kokomo at 18.8 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to a quarter-century high of 9.4 percent in May. Many economists predict it will rise to 9.6 percent in June.