The unemployment rate in Tallahatchie County rose from 5.5% in November to 6.3% in December, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security reported.
The MDES, which compiles the state’s employment data, noted that 330 members of the county’s 5,260-person labor force were unemployed in December. The labor force consists of everyone who has a job or is actively looking.
Revised November figures show 290 of 5,220 Tallahatchie County labor force members were jobless during that month.
The county’s December jobless rate was 1.1% higher than the 5.2% that was recorded in December 2018 when 279of 5,270 available laborers age 16 and older did not find work.
Statewide, the unemployment rate fell from 5.5% in November to 5.3% in December. Nationally, joblessness rose from 3.3% to 3.4%.
The December unemployment rates for selected area counties, with November figures in parenthesis, are:
» Coahoma, 7.8 (7.1)
» Grenada, 4.8 (5.1)
» Lafayette, 3.7 (4.2)
» Leflore, 7.7 (7.3)
» Panola, 6.1 (6.4)
» Quitman, 8.7 (8.0)
» Sunflower, 10.7 (9.6)
» Yalobusha, 4.9 (5.2)
Jefferson County had the highest jobless rate, 16.9%. Lafayette and Rankin counties shared the lowest of 3.7%.
