Leflore County's jobless rate in December jumped to its highest level for that month in more than a decade, according to figures released Thursday by the Mississippi Employment Security Commission.
After three straight months of declining unemployment figures, the December rate rose to 11.2 percent, substantially higher than November's 8.7 percent figure.
It was the highest jobless rate for December since 1990, when 12.8 percent of the labor force was unemployed.
Leflore County job woes were shared by several other Delta counties, which saw their unemployment numbers soar with the seasonal layoff of agricultural workers.
Issaquena County in the Delta went from 15.3 percent in November to the state's highest rate of 21.1 percent. The farming counties of Sharkey and Holmes were tied for the second-highest rate at 16.3 percent.
Statewide, 6,200 agricultural jobs were lost in December, according to the MESC.
That and the continued downturn in manufacturing contributed heavily to Mississippi's 5.8 percent unemployment rate in December, the highest in a year and a half.
Manufacturers eliminated 2,100 jobs, bringing the total number of manufacturing jobs lost in 2001 to 13,400, the MESC said.
The state has lost nearly 60,000 manufacturing jobs since late 1994, as many companies have opted for cheaper labor and moved their factories to Asia or Latin America.
December's statewide rate was 1.5 percent higher than the year-ago figure and the highest since it was 5.9 percent in July 2000.
"The effects of a national downturn in the economy take time to filter down to the smaller areas of the country like Mississippi," said MESC executive director Curt Thompson.
The nation's unemployment rate, also 5.8 percent, is expected to rise in the coming months. Economists say the strength of an economic recovery will depend in part on how consumers react with their pocketbooks and wallets to higher unemployment.
Eighteen of the state's 82 counties had double-digit rates.
Lafayette County had the state's lowest rate at 2.2 percent. Oktibbeha County was second-lowest at 2.5 percent.
Thompson said he expects that the number of unemployed rose in January as well because of post-holiday layoffs in retail trade, weather-related job losses in construction and more reductions in agriculture.
Leflore County had the 68th highest unemployment rate of the state's 82 counties in December, four spots worse than the previous month.
The December rates and rankings for other nearby counties were:
- Grenada, 7.1 percent, 46th (tie).
- Carroll, 8.1 percent, 53rd (tie).
- Tallahatchie, 14.0 percent, 76th (tie).
- Humphreys, 14.0 percent, 76th (tie).
- Montgomery, 12.8 percent, 71st.
- Sunflower, 14.7 percent, 78th.
