Marion County lost less jobs than most Mississippi counties in April, with unemployment rising here to 11.1%.
Even though the county’s rate more than doubled from 5.0% in March, Marion rose to the 14th-lowest unemployment rate among Mississippi’s 82 counties in April. It had been the 22nd-lowest in March.
The state rate jumped from 5.0% to 15.6% as the coronavirus shut down large parts of the economy.
The Mississippi Department of Employment Security released the latest numbers Tuesday.
That same day state economist Darrin Webb told legislators it might be 2023 until the state’s economy returns to pre-COVID-19 levels. Webb, in a briefing to the Senate Appropriations Committee, said to expect a short recession and long recovery, similar to what happened in Mississippi following 2008’s Great Recession.
He predicted the worst will be in the second quarter of 2020, spanning from April to June, and that he expects conditions to begin to improve in the third quarter (July to September) as the economy restarts.
In Marion County in March, there was a labor force of 9,920 with 9,420 employed. Those numbers fell in April here to 8,850 and 7,870.
Initial claims were up to 807 in Marion County in April versus 191 in March and 17 in February.
Tunica County, home to casinos in the Mississippi Delta, had the highest unemployment in the state at 31.7%.
Rural counties tended to do better. The three lowest counties were all rural: Smith at 7.6%, Covington at 8.9% and Scott at 9.2%.
