Marion County’s unemployment rate continues to fall to the lowest level in decades, but the latest change had more to do with people leaving the workforce than getting hired.
The unemployment rate dropped from 4.8 percent in September to 4.5 percent in October, according to numbers released this week by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
That’s the lowest monthly rate in the county since at least 1990, which is as far as state records available online go back.
But even though the unemployment rate went down, the county actually lost 70 net jobs. Here are the numbers:
September 2017: 9,860 employed, 10,360 labor force
October 2017: 9,790 employed, 10,250 labor force
That means 110 left the labor force, either because they gave up searching for jobs or moved elsewhere.
However, the jobs picture is still generally good in the county. The 4.5 percent unemployment rate puts Marion 28th out of the state’s 82 counties and just below the statewide unadjusted rate of 4.4 percent. The national jobless rate was 3.9 percent.
The unemployment rate for other nearby counties is:
Lamar, 3.3 percent (tied for lowest in the state with Rankin and Union)
Forrest, 4.1 percent (17th)
Pearl River, 4.5 percent (28th)
Jones, 4.6 percent (30th)
Lawrence, 5.0 percent (44th)
Walthall, 5.3 percent (54th)
Jeff Davis, 5.8 percent (63rd)
