November’s Jobless Rate Lowest Recorded In 2011

WATER VALLEY – Unemployment is down slightly in Yalobusha County from October to November, dropping from 10.9 percent to 10.3 percent, the lowest rate recorded in 2011.
    The latest figures from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security show that the number of people out of work in November was 660 compared to 740 back in January, which posted the highest unemployment rate at 13.5 percent.
The number of people employed in November is 5720, up from the 5,490 employed when the year kicked off in January.  
The November 2011 unemployment rate is down almost a percentage point from the November 2010 rate of 11.8 percent when the same number people were shown as out of work. However, the labor force was smaller last year, with only 5550 people.
Four years ago, in November 2007, the rate was 6.8 percent. But, the current rate is still two percentage points lower than the 13.3 percent reached in November 2009.
In comparison to the five surrounding counties, the Yalobusha unemployment rate was less than Panola (11.5) and Grenada (10.4), but higher than Tallahatchie (9.7), Calhoun (8.3), and Lafayette (7.5).
Initial unemployment insurance claims went up over the month while continuing claims went down. Initial claims were 84 in November compared to 78 in October. Continuing claims went down from 581 in October to 570 in November.
Mississippi’s unadjusted unemployment rate for November 2011 was 9.7 percent, decreasing seven-tenths of a percentage point from the October rate of 10.4 percent. When compared to the year ago rate of 9.8 percent, the rate decreased one-tenth of one percentage point.
Over the month, the number of unemployed decreased 11,100, while the employed total decreased 2,600. The Nation’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November 2011 at 8.2 percent was down three-tenths of a percentage point from the prior month, and 1.1 percentage points from the year ago rate of 9.3 percent.
For the month of November, only twenty-four counties in Missis-sippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 9.7 percent. Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of November at 6.1. Five counties reported rates greater than 15.0 percent. Clay County had the highest unemployment rate for November at 18.6.