The seasonal improvement period for delinquencies and foreclosure inventories has come to a halt, according to an industry report recently released by Lender Processing Services (LPS).

The Florida-based analytics firm’s monthly Mortgage Monitor report found that the total U.S. delinquency rate jumped to 9.2 percent in May, inching up 2.3 percent from April and 7.9 percent higher than the same month last year.

Herb Blecher, VP of LPS Applied Analytics, said the slight increase on the delinquency side was expected as this is the period when rates start to pick up. He said delinquencies will likely continue to increase all the way through the end of the year.

The foreclosure inventory rate remained stable from the month prior at 3.18 percent, but it was 13.5 percent higher than May of 2010. Blecher explained that while some stability has been achieved in the foreclosure inventory rate, a further decline over the coming months is unlikely.

The national noncurrent loan rate, which reflects both foreclosures and delinquencies, came in at 12.38 percent. Not including REO properties, nearly 6.3 million loans were noncurrent in May. When REO properties were included, the total jumped to nearly 7.4 million.

On a state-by-state basis, Florida and Nevada continued to hold the most noncurrent loans in May, with rates of 22.4 percent and 21.8 percent, respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest noncurrent loan rates were seen in North Dakota, at 4.1 percent and South Dakota, at 5 percent.