After Four-Month Decline, Jobless Rate Jumps Up

By Jack Gurner
Reporter

WATER VALLEY – Yalobusha County’s unemployment rate went back up in May after a steady decline over the first four months of the year.

The May unemployment rate of 15.3 percent is the highest it has been for the month in the past five years, more than doubling the May 2007 rate of 7.1 percent.

And, it is up more than three points from the May 2009 rate of 12.2 percent, according to the latest numbers released by the Mississippi Depart-ment of Employ-ment Security.

The 15.3 percent figure is also the highest for the five surrounding counties and has pushed Yalobusha from 15th highest in the state to 13th highest. The figures are based on the county of residence.

Mississippi’s unemployment rate for May was 11.2 percent, increasing five-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s rate of 10.7 percent. When compared to the May 2009 rate of 9.5 percent, the rate increased 1.7 percentage points.

The Nation’s unemployment rate for May 2010 at 9.3 percent was down two-tenths of a percentage point over the month, but was two-tenths of a percentage point higher than the year ago rate of 9.1 percent.

For the month, only twenty-two counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 11.2 percent. Unemployment rates decreased or remained unchanged over the month in twelve counties. Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of May at 7.1 percent followed by Madison County at 7.8 percent.

Sixteen counties reported rates greater than or equal to 15.0 percent with three counties reporting rates greater than 20.0 percent. Noxubee County had the highest unemployment rate for May at 22.0 percent.