Unemployment numbers ticked up slightly in June across Lowndes, Clay and Oktibbeha counties, yet statewide unemployment numbers continued to decrease according to preliminary statistics released Tuesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Clay County is ranked 76th out of Mississippi’s 82 counties, the seventh worst mark statewide, with an unemployment rate at 14.5 percent, a slight increase from its 14.4 percent mark in May. An estimated 1,130 people are out of work.
In June, West Point Ward 4 Selectman Keith McBrayer told The Dispatch the unemployment figure is “still nowhere near where we want it to be.”
Noxubee County is right behind West Point at 77th with a 14.7 percent unemployment rate in June, with an estimated 560 residents out of work. Noxubee’s unemployment rate spiked from 12.6 percent in May, which was a stark decline from a yearly high rate of 17 percent in April.
Lowndes County had a 10.7 unemployment rate in June compared to 10.4 percent in May, ranking it 55th in Mississippi with an estimated 2,540 people unemployed.
Lastly, Oktibbeha County went from a rate of 9.2 percent in May to 9.9 percent in June, with an estimated 2,110 residents out of work. Oktibbeha County’s unemployment rate ranks 44th in Mississippi.
For the month of June, Mississippi saw a statewide unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.
Statewide unemployment hit a yearly-high in April at 15.7 percent before decreasing to 10.4 percent in May.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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