All counties in the Golden Triangle saw a decrease in unemployment rates last month.
Since July, Oktibbeha County had the largest improvement, declining 0.6% to 4.7%. Over that same time, Clay County fell 0.5% to 5.1%, Noxubee County declined 0.4% to 5.9% and Lowndes County had the smallest improvement, dropping from 4.5% to 4.4%, according to data released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Average rates for 2025 across all four counties have increased between 0.7% and 1.2% from 2024 annual rates.
Rates are higher in each of the counties in comparison to August 2024, with Oktibbeha County seeing the smallest difference, a 0.5% increase from 4.2% last year. Lowndes and Clay counties each increased by 0.7% from 3.7% and 4.4%, respectively, in August 2024.
Noxubee County had the largest difference with a 1.3% increase from 4.6% last year to 5.9% in August 2025.
At the state level, unemployment dropped to 4.2% in August, a 0.3% improvement from July. The national rate also fell to 4.5% from 4.6% in July. The state and national rates increased 0.7% and 0.1% respectively from August 2024.
There are currently 3,530 people unemployed in the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, which includes Choctaw, Webster and Winston counties. That’s up from 2,950 in August 2024.
The number of unemployed people in Lowndes and Oktibbeha Counties rose to 1,140 and 1,050 respectively, since August of 2024. Clay and Noxubee counties have grown to 430 and 240 people, since August of 2024.
There are currently 53,992 people unemployed in the state of Mississippi which is about a 20% increase from August 2024.
In the United States there are currently 7,747,000 people unemployed which is about a 4.5% increase from August 2024.
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You can help your community
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 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
