Despite the gain of 8,100 jobs, the region's unemployment rate has risen to 7.1% in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, and this is due to a growing labor force and job losses in professional services.

The sector with the region's biggest job losses between April and May was professional, scientific and technical services, which lost 1,100 positions. Other significant month-to-month declines were seen in private education services with 600 job losses and finance and insurance with 200 job losses.

In May, there were 48,600 unemployed people in the tri-county area, which is an increase from April.

Johny Nelson, the Labor Department's analyst for the Lower Hudson Valley, noted that the region's labor force added 8,100 people in May.

"What people have to really focus on is that the labor force is increasing," said Nelson, explaining that the expansion signals a confidence in the labor market that's also causing the unemployment rate to rise because more people are searching for work.

The construction industry was a sector that added jobs in May, but it is still down 2,000 positions from the May 2011 figures.    

"Construction has continued to reel from the housing-market collapse," Nelson said.

The biggest month-to-month gain in May was leisure and hospitality, which added 5,400 jobs. President of the Rockland Business Association Al Samuels, said that the rise in May's hospitality numbers is a seasonal effect as businesses prepare for summer tourism and traffic.

Of the companies responding to the business council's survey, 34 percent said they had more job openings this quarter than last quarter, when just 22 percent of respondents said they had more openings.