Unemployment rates jumped over the past month, according to data released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Jobless rates in June shot up by anywhere from 0.9 percent (Lowndes County) to 1.5 percent (Oktibbeha County) compared to last month, a trend that is also reflected at the state and national levels. Labor analysts attribute the spike in the unemployment rates to the full impact of high school and college students looking for jobs, expanding the labor force.
Statistically, June is the month where unemployment is highest as students enter the job market after the end of the school year.
There were 3,930 unemployed people in the Golden Triangle’s four counties according to the June data.
Mississippi’s jobless rate increased by 0.4 percent in June compared to May while the national unemployment rate increased by 0.6 percent over that period.
Compared to June 2017, the jobless rates were lower this year, however. Only in Noxubee County, where the jobless rate in June 2018 and June 2017 was unchanged at 8.7 percent, was the jobless rates equal to or higher than last year.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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