Leflore County’s jobless rate jumped in January to 16.5 percent, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Unemployment normally rises in January, as businesses shed holiday hires, but the increase from December’s revised rate of 13.3 percent was more severe than usual.
If the January figure stands, it will be the highest unemployment rate for that month since the recession of 1991, when the rate hit 19.3 percent. In January 2009, the unemployment rate was 12.2 percent.
The number of unemployed in January jumped in Leflore County by 360 from the month before.
Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood Leflore Industrial Board, said that she has not seen numbers this bad before, but she remains optimistic for the county.
“This community, just like other communities across the state and US, is continuing to struggle with employment retention,” said Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board. “In Leflore County a greater focus is being placed on job retention … Though the current unemployment rate is higher than usual, this community and its employers remain optimistic that the economy will rebound.”
Statewide, the unemployment rate stood at 12 percent in January, up from 10.3 percent in December and higher than the national rate of 10.6 percent. The statewide rate is the highest since 1986.
“As the U.S. pulls out of the recession, the state’s economy will improve,” said Marianne Hill, senior economist at the state College Board. “However, growth will be most rapid in newly emerging industries, which rely heavily on high-skill workers — and Mississippi has some catching up to do in labor force education and training.”
Only eight of the state’s 82 counties had rates below 10 percent, with Rankin County the lowest at 8 percent. Four counties had rates above 20 percent. Holmes and Noxubee counties tied for the highest rate at 23.1 percent.
“Rural areas are now bearing the brunt of the downturn in the state,” Hill said.
Leflore County had the 63rd best unemployment rate, one spot worse than the month before.
The January rates and rankings for other nearby counties were:
- Carroll, 13.4 percent, 38th (tie).
- Tallahatchie, 15.2 percent, 55th.
- Grenada, 15.3 percent, 56th.
- Montgomery, 17.2 percent, 68th (tie).
- Humphreys, 17.7 percent, 73rd.
- Sunflower, 18.7 percent, 76th.
AT A GLANCE
- Leflore County’s unemployment rate in January for the past five years:
2010 16.5%
2009 12.2%
2008 9.7%
2007 10.3%
2006 10.6%t
