February’s unemployment data continued its promising trend, both in the Golden Triangle and the state.
Mississippi’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for February was 5.2 percent, according to data released Wednesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. That’s 0.3 percent lower than in January and 0.9 percent lower than in February 2016.
That trend was reflected locally, too. Unemployment rates in the four Golden Triangle counties continue to be at their lowest in more than 20 years. Both Oktibbeha and Lowndes counties rates are lower than the state average while Noxubee County’s jobless rate fell by 2.3 percent compared to the rate in February 2016.
The labor force, which is made up of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, increased in February by 6,900 to 1,298,200, an increase of 13,300 since February 2016.
The number of people working in Mississippi rose in February by 10,300 to 1,230,100. For the year since February 2016, employment in the state has increased by 23,000 and more people in the state have jobs than at any time since 2008.
The number of unemployed Mississippians fell in February by 3,400 to 68,100 In February 2017 fewer Mississippians were unemployed than at any time since May 2001.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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