June 7, 1986

The unemployment rate jumped two-tenths of a percentage point in May as the nation's economy generated only one new job for every two people who joined the labor force, the Government reported today. The rise in the overall jobless rate, to 7.2 percent, was considered a disappointment by most analysts and suggested that economic expansion continued at a lackluster pace despite a boom in housing and some service industries. ''We're seeing fairly reasonable growth in service output but a continued shrinkage in manufacturing and mining,'' said James E. Annable, chief economist at the First National Bank of Chicago. Civilian Rate at 7.3 Percent The national pattern was reflected in increasing unemployment in New York and New Jersey, although joblessness in New York City dropped by eight-tenths of a point, to 7.9 percent. [ Page 14. ] The nationwide civilian unemployment rate, excluding the armed forces, rose by the same two-tenths of a point as the overall rate, to 7.3 percent, last month.

The jury that convicted Ronald W. Pelton of espionage Thursday went to extraordinary lengths to decide that he had confessed voluntarily, according to three jurors. ''If it was not voluntary, how could we make this decision?'' Dwardka Goswami, the jury foreman, asked in an interview today. The defense for Mr. Pelton, a former employee of the National Security Agency, had rested primarily on his contention that he had been tricked into confessing. He said that when agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned him twice in a hotel in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 24, 1985, he thought the agency was considering using him as a double agent instead of prosecuting him for selling intelligence secrets to the Soviet Union. . Prosecuting attorneys said Thursday on the courthouse steps after the verdict that the F.B.I.'s investigative techniques had been vindicated by the jury's decision.

The United States called on Israel today to provide ''full cooperation'' in the investigation of the evidence turned over by a former Navy analyst who has admitted spying for Israel. State Department officials said the repeated demand for cooperation had also been conveyed to the Israelis through diplomatic channels. The officials said the Israelis had been cautioned that the case of the Navy analyst, Jonathan Jay Pollard, could generate considerable tension in relations if the Israelis are perceived to be covering up information. Charge of Selective Help Senior Justice and White House officials have said the Israeli Government has not been fully cooperative in the investigation. William H. Webster, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said in an interview Wednesday that Israel had given only ''selective cooperation'' in the investigation of Mr. Pollard, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to selling secrets to the Israelis. His wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, pleaded guilty on lesser counts.

New York has emerged in the forefront of states striving to restructure their own economies after undergoing drastic reductions in their manufacturing industries. With the Federal Government concentrating on reducing its budget deficit and building up military forces, support for private economic development is fast shifting from the Federal to the state and local levels. Governor Cuomo has proposed legislation to broaden economic development programs and enact new ones. Committees in the State Senate and the Assembly have been at work on the proposals, seeking to adopt a package this summer. The Governor's proposal contains these main elements: * Creation of an industrial development bank to provide long-term capital for long-established manufacturing companies to modernize their plants and develop new products.

A group of Commonwealth leaders has decided to give up its attempt at mediation between the South African Government and its main black nationalist opponents, a diplomat close to the group said here today. The seven leaders, known as the Eminent Persons Group, visited Cape Town in March, meeting both President P. W. Botha and Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed African National Congress. They returned again in May after receiving diplomatic signals that the Botha Government was prepared to talk about legalizing the outlawed movement and releasing Mr. Mandela and others. A message from the South African Government reportedly was waiting for the group Wednesday when it reconvened here at the Commonwealth headquarters at Marlborough House. It was described as tough in tone. According to the source, the group's reply said the Government's own actions and intransigent attitudes had doomed the attempt to initiate discussions between the main opposing forces in South Africa.