July Jobless Rate Eases Up

Staff Report

WATER VALLEY – Yalobusha County’s unemployment rate has seesawed the past few months going up in July by almost a point and a half over June.

The July 2010 rate of 16.2 percent is lower than the July 2009 rate of 16.9 percent. However, the average rate for July during the preceding four years was only 9.4 percent.

Yalobusha’s July rate is still the highest of the five surrounding counties, according to the latest numbers released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

Mississippi’s unemployment rate for July was 11.5 percent, increasing four-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s rate of 11.1 percent. When compared to the July 2009 rate of 10.4 percent, the rate increased 1.1 percentage points.

The Nation’s unemployment rate for July 2010 at 9.7 percent was up one-tenth of a percentage point over the month, but was unchanged from the year ago rate.

For the month, only 21 counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 11.5 percent.

Unemployment rates decreased or remained unchanged over the month in twelve counties. Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of July at 6.9 percent followed by Lamar County at 8 percent.

Twenty-four counties reported rates greater than or equal to 15.0 percent with four counties reporting rates greater than 20.0 percent. Holmes County had the highest unemployment rate for June at 22.7 percent.