Unemployment in Tallahatchie County fell to 6.8% in February, a slight dip of one-tenth of 1 percent from the revised January figure of 6.9%, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security has reported.
The MDES, which compiles the state’s employment data, noted that 350 members of the county’s 5,130-person labor force were unemployed in February. The labor force consists of everyone who has a job or is actively looking for a job.
In January, 350 of 5,110 Tallahatchie County labor force members were jobless.
The county’s February unemployment rate was three-tenths of 1 percent higher than the 6.5% figure recorded in February 2020, when 340 of 5,210 available laborers 16 and older did not find work.
Mississippi’s jobless rate in February was 6.1%, one-tenth of 1 percent lower than the January rate of 6.2% and eight-tenths of 1 percent higher than the 5.3 percent rate recorded in February 2020.
The MDES reported that the state’s non-farm employment decreased 800 from January to February — the largest decline was in the leisure and hospitality sector — and was 46,700 lower than one year ago.
Nationally, joblessness fell slightly, from 6.8% in January to 6.6% in February.
The February unemployment rates for selected area counties, with January figures in parenthesis, are:
» Coahoma, 10.0 (10.9)
» Grenada, 5.8 (5.8)
» Lafayette, 4.3 (4.5)
» Leflore, 9.5 (10.1)
» Panola, 7.9 (8.3)
» Quitman, 9.6 (10.0)
» Sunflower, 10.6 (11.1)
» Yalobusha, 6.5 (6.4)
Jefferson County had the state’s highest jobless rate of 15.5% in February. Rankin County enjoyed the lowest unemployment rate of 3.9%.
The full MDES monthly report may be viewed here.
