Unemployment dropped in South Lakeland, Furness and North Lancashire last month, official figures show.
There were 1,665 job hunters claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or the new Universal Credit in Lancaster, 80 fewer than in April, making up 1.8 per cent of the workforce.
Barrow's claimant count also fell, by 50 to 1,150 (2.8 per cent of the workforce), and South Lakeland's by 25 to 345 (0.6 per cent).
Seasonal recruitment in tourism and construction may have been responsible for the fall, but the figures appear to show that the long-term downward in unemployment has faltered.
Lancaster had 65 more claimants than in May last year, and South Lakeland had five more, although Barrow had 95 fewer.
Nationally, the seasonally-adjusted claimant count was almost unchanged at 746,100 while the quarterly rolling total, which includes job hunters not eligible for benefits, fell by 20,000 to 1.67m, the lowest since spring 2008.
The Office for National Statistics also said that average earnings increased by 2.0 per cent in the year to April, well above the inflation rate of 0.3 per cent.