Mississippi”s unemployment rate for July rose to 11.5 percent, and Golden Triangle counties all had rates worse than the state average. In Columbus, more than one in five people was out of work.
Statewide, the jobless rate was 11.1 percent in June and 10.4 percent in July 2009.
Figures were released Wednesday by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
For July, only 21 counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state”s rate of 11.5 percent.
Rates among area counties rose. In Lowndes County, the rate was 13.1 percent, up from 12.7 percent in June and 11.5 percent in July 2009.
Among individual municipalities, Columbus posted the worst unemployment rate, at 20.7 percent, with 2,320 people unemployed out of a 11,220-person workforce. That was higher than the 19.6 percent posted in June and the 17.4 percent rate reported in July 2009.
Oktibbeha County, which typically posts the lowest area rate, was above the state average. The county posted a July rate of 11.9 percent. Oktibbeha had a 12 percent jobless rate in June and a rate of 10.7 percent in July 2009.
In Clay County, one out of five working-age people is jobless. Clay rate of 20.4 percent was up from 19.6 percent in June and 19.7 percent in July 2009.
Monroe”s rate of 14.7 percent was higher than its June rate of 14.2 percent, but dipped slightly compared to last year, with a rate of 15.5 percent in July 2009.
Noxubee County posted ranked 81st among the state”s 82 counties, with an unemployment rate of 22.4 percent in July. Noxubee posted a rate of 22.1 percent in June and 20.7 percent in July 2009.
Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of July at 6.9 percent followed by Lamar County at 8 percent.
Twenty-four counties reported rates greater than or equal to 15.0 percent with four counties reporting rates greater than 20.0 percent.
Holmes County had the highest unemployment rate for July at 22.7 percent.
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