The jobless rate is rising, and agencies that help people find work are feeling the shift.

The Community Employment Center in Petersburg, run by Goodwill of Central Virginia, saw 1,230 people during its first year of operation, from September 2006 to September 2007.

From April to June this year, the agency already has worked with 651 job seekers.

"A lot of people are coming in for services," said Aimée Walters, director of marketing and communications.

Two types of people are served at the Petersburg center: the chronically unemployed or underemployed and people seeking a job after serving jail time, Walters said.

The center has phones, faxes and computers that job hunters can use. Staff members offer résumé help and conduct mock interviews.

They may see more clients.

From April to May, the jobless rate in Petersburg increased 1 percentage point to 7 percent, according to data released yesterday by the Virginia Employment Commission. That means 1,020 people were unemployed in Petersburg in May, compared with 849 the month before.

The city has the highest percentage of unemployed people in the Richmond area and traditionally has had higher numbers than the rest of the region, said William F. Mezger, the employment commission's chief economist.

Some of that stems from manufacturing-job losses two decades ago. It also hinges on the type of work available in the area. Often, the positions are in the service industry, for laborers, fast-food workers or hourly employment that is more fluid, said Dennis Morris, executive director of the Crater Planning District Commission.

Petersburg also has a small civilian labor force -- nearly 15,000 compared with Richmond's almost 100,000. "The population base is fairly small, so it doesn't take a whole lot of shifting in the absolute number to shift the percentage point," Morris said.

Across Virginia and in the greater Richmond area, the jobless rate rose 0.5 percentage point from April to May. The Virginia average was 3.8 percent, while the Richmond area had a 4 percent unemployment rate, according to commission data. The last time the Virginia jobless rate rose as much was between December and January, when it rose 0.6 percentage points to 3.8 percent.

College students returning home for the summer after graduation are one reason for this latest increase.

"You had thousands of people coming out of colleges looking for work," Mezger said. "That all came into the labor force at one time, so that pushed the unemployment number up."

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or edooley@timesdispatch.com.