RALEIGH — Orange County’s 5.9 percent (not seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for the month of May was not good enough to top Currituck County’s state-best 5.7 percent figure, according to a report from the NC Department of Commerce released Tuesday.

The recent slide ends the area’s six month reign on top. Orange County had boasted the state’s lowest unemployment rate since Nov. 2012.

In April, Orange County held a state-leading 5.3 percent unemployment rate. However, the 0.6 percent spike in May was not uncharacteristic for many counties across the state as unemployment rates increased in 87 of NC’s counties.

However, among North Carolina’ Metro areas, Durham-Chapel Hill still holds the number one spot at a rate of 6.8 percent. The statewide rate currently sits at 8.9 percent.