County’s Jobless Rate Is Up Again In July

Staff Report

JACKSON – Yalobusha County’s unemployment rate increased slightly from June to July, from 6.6 to 7.1, according to the latest report from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, even as the state’s rate held steady at 6.1 percent.

The national rate for July was 4.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent in June. 

Yalobusha is ranked 50th out of the state’s 82 counties, with Rankin County at the top with 4.1 percent jobless, and Jefferson County remaining in the worst spot with 17 percent unemployment.

The 7.1 percent rate reflects MDES’s estimate that 360 people in the county were unemployed out of a total labor force of 4,990 people. A total of $53,475 in claims were paid out during July in Yalobusha. 

July marks the fourth consecutive month the jobless rate has increased in the county, following a 22-year low back in April when the rate dipped to 4.3 percent. In May the unemployment rate climbed to 5.7 percent.

Compared to the five contiguous counties, Yalobusha’s unemployment rate is higher than Lafayette (5.6), Calhoun (5.4), Grenada (5.5) and Tallahatchie (6.3) while lower than Panola (8.2).