The Mississippi Department of Employment Security released its monthly labor report Wednesday, but unlike previous months, the most recent unemployment statistics do not include comparisons to the previous month or year statistics.
According to the MDES website, January’s employment data was compiled using revised methods, something the MDES says happens about once every 10 years as the Bureau of Labor employs new data sources in an attempt to paint a more accurate portrait of the employment landscape.
MDES officials say the previous months and years statistics are being converted to include the new methods but the process has yet to be completed.
Based on the new methodology, January unemployment rates in Lowndes and Oktibbeha County were sharply higher than the numbers released for December 2014 while the jobless rates in Clay and Noxubee County’s were noticeably lower.
The report released Monday stated there are 2,300 eligible workers in Lowndes County who were unemployed in January for an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. In Oktibbeha County, there were 1,570 unemployed for a rate of 8.0 percent. Clay County shows 1,050 unemployed for a rate of 13.5 percent while in Noxubee County, 520 jobless residents represented a 13.4 percent unemployment rate.
Calculated as a region, the Golden Triangle has 6,760 unemployed residents for a rate of 9.7 percent. Mississippi’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 7.1 compared to the national rate of 5.5.
Under the old system, the December 2014 unemployment rates were: Lowndes (8.3 percent), Oktibbeha (7.0 percent), Clay (14.4 percent) and Noxubee (14.1 percent).
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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