For the third month in a row, the number of unemployed workers in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties decreased. A Mississippi Department of Employment Security report on statewide unemployment notes the April unemployment rate for Lowndes County was 8.7 percent, a significant drop from 9.1 percent in March and 9.9 percent in February. Of the estimated 26,649 workers in Lowndes County, 24,320 are working and 2,320 are currently unemployed.

Oktibbeha County reported a decrease of 8.2 percent in April, which is down from 8.7 percent in March and 9.6 percent in February. Oktibbeha County has a labor force of 20,940 and 18,910 are employed.

Rates in Noxubee and Clay counties remain well above the April state average of 8.3 percent.

The April rate for Clay County was 14.6 percent, a significant decrease from 15.7 percent in March. The rate for Noxubee County was 14.4 percent, down from 15.4 percent in March. February rates were 16.4 percent for Clay County and 16.9 percent for Noxubee County. Last March, rates in Clay and Noxubee counties skyrocketed to 17.9 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively.

Of 82 counties in the state, Noxubee and Clay are ranked 80 and 81 respectively.

For the month of April 2012, only 27 of the state’s 82 counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate decreased or was unchanged in all but five counties and the rate was below 15 percent in all counties.

Although the state’s unemployment rate decreased from 8.7 percent in March to 8.3 percent in April, it still is above the national average of 7.7 percent. The 2011 April rate for the state was 10.2 percent.

The state unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in April 2008, just before the recession.

Rankin County, in which Brandon is located, has the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.2 percent.

Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.