Area unemployment in May jumped up from record lows in April, according to data the Mississippi Department of Employment Security released this week.
Noxubee and Lowndes counties rose the highest, currently sitting at 4.4% and 3.1% unemployment, respectively. Oktibbeha and Clay county rose to 3% and 2.9%.
May rates for the four counties rose between 0.2% and 0.5% from the previous month, but improved between 0.9% and 1.2% in each county compared to May 2022, with Noxubee showing the most improvement from last year.
On the state and national level, Mississippi rose 0.3% from 2.7% in April while the national rate rose 0.2% from 3.1%. However, the state rate fell 0.7% from May 2022 and the nation remained the same at 3.4%.
The number of unemployed people in Lowndes and Oktibbeha rose to 770 and 660, respectively. In contrast, Clay and Noxubee rose to 260 and 150, bringing the total number of people unemployed in the Golden Triangle up by 166 from April. Across all four counties, there are 1,846 people unemployed, marking a 25.3% improvement from May 2022.
There are currently 37,400 unemployed people in the state, down 22% from 2022. Across the nation, there are 5,700,000 unemployed, compared to 5,548,000 in May 2022.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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