The unemployment rate in Tallahatchie County rose from 4.7 percent in May to 6.3 percent in June, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security reported Tuesday.
The MDES, which compiles the state’s employment data, noted that 350 members of the county’s 5,500-person labor force were unemployed in June. The labor force consists of everyone who has a job or is actively looking for a job.
Revised May figures show 250 of 5,130 Tallahatchie County labor force members were jobless during that month.
The county’s June jobless rate was one-tenth of 1 percent lower than the 6.4 percent figure recorded in June 2018, when 350 of 5,400 available laborers age 16 and older did not find work.
Statewide, the unemployment rate rose from 4.9 percent in May to 6.0 percent in June. Nationally, joblessness climbed from 3.4 to 3.8 percent.
The number of non-farm jobs in Mississippi rose by 2,100 in June to 1,168,100, which are the most jobs ever recorded in the Magnolia State, the MDES noted.
Over the year since June 2018, the number of jobs in the state increased by 14,300, according to a survey of employers. MDES said the survey is the most reliable indicator of job growth.
The June unemployment rates for selected area counties, with May figures in parenthesis, are:
» Coahoma, 8.5 (6.2)
» Grenada, 5.6 (4.4)
» Leflore, 7.8 (6.4)
» Panola, 7.2 (6.1)
» Quitman, 9.5 (7.2)
» Sunflower, 8.5 (7.2)
» Yalobusha, 6.6 (5.2)
In Yalobusha County, 340 of 5,200 labor force members were unemployed in June. In May, 270 of 5,230 were jobless. In June 2018, when the county rate was 6.4 percent, 330 of 5,110 labor force members were jobless.
Jefferson County had the state’s highest jobless rate of 17.2 percent in June. Rankin County’s was lowest at 4.3.
