The latest jobs report shows Mississippi's economy was going strong — at least before the coronavirus scare inserted a flood of uncertainty in the marketplace.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5.5% in January from 5.6% in December, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security announced last week. The unadjusted rate was 5.3%, while the national rate was 4.0%.
Generally, an unemployment rate of 5% is considered full employment, and Mississippi's unemployment rate has been near record lows for more than a year.
Marion County's jobless rate in January was 5.6% in January, which ranked 34th out of 82 counties. The county has 9,350 residents employed out of a labor force of 9,900.
The labor force was down from December, when it was 10,140 in Marion County and 9,590 employed.
In January Rankin had the lowest rate at 3.9% followed by Lamar at 4.1%. The highest was Jefferson at 16.7% and Humphreys at 12.4%.
Other area counties included:
Walthall, 7.0%
Lawrence, 6.3%
Jeff Davis, 6.4%
Pearl River, 4.9%
Forrest, 4.7%
Of course, the direction of the economy could change dramatically by the time the February and March figures are reported. The state is scheduled to release the February figures on March 31 and March data on April 21.
