Unemployment is down from this time last year on both the state and local levels.
Last month’s rates for Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee counties were down at least nine tenths of a percent from September 2013, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Lowndes County’s jobless rate was 8.7 percent, or 2,250 people, compared to 9.6 percent 12 months ago. In Oktibbeha County, the rate was 7.1 percent, whereas it was 8 percent in September 2013. That equates to about 1,490 people looking for work.
While Clay County’s rate was the highest of the state’s 82 counties at 15.1 percent, that rate was down from 18.2 percent last September. According to MDES statistics, 15.1 percent of the workforce is about 1,050 people.
Noxubee County had 490 people, or 13.9 percent of its work-eligible population, looking for a job last month. Last September, 15.6 percent of that population were unemployed.
The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.7 percent. Seasonally-adjusted data removes the effects of events that follow a seasonal pattern, such as holidays, weather and the opening and closing of schools.
Not seasonally adjusted, the rate is 7.3 percent, or about 91,600 people. There were 6,000 more jobs in the state last month than the month before and 14,300 more than a year ago.
MDES publishes unemployment statistics each month using survey data from households and employers across the state.
The nationwide unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than the 7.2 percent rate it had a year ago.
Industry sectors in Mississippi registering the largest monthly employment gains were educational and health services; government; and professional and business services.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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