Tallahatchie County unemployment fell to 8.6 percent in February, a drop of 1.3 percent from January, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
The MDES, which compiles the state’s employment data, noted that 500 members of the county’s 5,880-person labor force were unemployed in February.
In January, 590 of 5,930 labor force folk were jobless and the unemployment rate stood at 9.9 percent.
The February rate is four-tenths of 1 percent lower than the 9.0 percent of February 2015, the MDES reported.
Mississippi’s 6.2 percent February jobless rate reflects a decrease of eight-tenths of 1 percent from January’s 7.0.
The MDES noted that the number of people working in Mississippi climbed for the 21st consecutive month, increasing in February by 8,400 to stand at 1,220,000 — the highest number of Mississippians with jobs since June 2008. Since February 2015, employment in the Magnolia State jumped by 47,900.
February unemployment rates for area counties, with January figures in parenthesis, are:
Coahoma, 10.8 (12.1)
Grenada, 5.6 (6.5)
Lafayette, 11.1 (12.5)
Leflore, 12.3 (13.5)
Panola, 8.2 (9.1)
Quitman, 11.8 (12.5)
Sunflower, 12.0 (12.9)
Yalobusha, 6.6 (7.8)
Issaquena County recorded Mississippi’s highest February jobless rate of 21.2 percent. Rankin’s 4.0 percent was lowest in the Magnolia State.
