As employment continues to move toward what is considered full employment, unemployment rates are beginning to show less change in the year-over-year comparison on the local, state and national level.
Jobless rates have continued an 18-month trend of steady decreases, which are also reflected in the Golden Triangle where the unemployment rates in September are only slightly less than in September 2017, according to data released Wednesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Compared to a year ago, the largest drop in unemployment in the Golden Triangle came in Noxubee County, where the rate fell by 0.7 percent to 6.6 percent in September compared to a year ago. Those rates dropped by 0.1 percent in Oktibbeha and Clay counties and were unchanged in Lowndes County when compared to the same time period.
Mississippi’s jobless rate in September, 4.5 percent, is 0.2 percent lower than in September 2017 while the national unemployment rate of 3.6 percent is 0.5 percent lower than in September 2017.
The state’s civilian labor force, which consists of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, increased by 600 over the month to 1,288,400 in September 2018. The number of employed Mississippians rose over the month by 700 to 1,226,800. More Mississippians were employed than at any time since May 2008.
The current 1,170,100 jobs in Mississippi are the most jobs in the state since the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics began calculating state non-farm seasonally adjusted data numbers.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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