Copiah ranks 32nd in state

 with 10.5% unemployment

During May there were 12,480  persons in the labor force of Copiah County. Of these 1,310 or 10.5 percent were unemployed indicating that 11,170 Copiahians were employed. This compares with the state unemployment rate of 10.0 percent.

Last month there were 12,480 Copiahians in the labor force of which 1,370 or 11.0 percent were unemployed indicating that 11,110 were employed. This compared with the statewide unemployment rate of 10.0 percent in April.

The twelve month moving average for the period ending in May was 12,310  in the workforce with 1,950 or 11.0 percent unemployed.

Central Mississippi District

Copiah is a part of the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District which includes Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Simpson, Warren and Yazoo counties.

There were 299,650  in the workforce in the seven county district during May of which 25,560 were unemployed for an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent. In April 303,350 were in the workforce with 25,280 unemployed for an 8.3 percent unemployment rate.

Copiah-Lincoln District

Statistics are also provided for junior/community college districts and in the Copiah-Lincoln District there were 62,480 in the workforce with 6,710 or 10.7 percent unemployed during May. In April the workforce numbered 62,880 with 6,560 or 10.4 percent unemployed.

Labor Force Highlights

Labor force data presented are rounded estimates.

Seasonally Adjusted

Mississippi’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2011 was 10.3 percent. The state’s seasonally adjusted series reported an over the month and over the year decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from 10.4 in April 2011 and May 2010. The Nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased one-tenth of one percentage point over the month from 9.0 percent in April to 9.1 percent, but was five-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year ago rate of 9.6 percent.

Seasonally adjusted data removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year such as the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events. These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other non-seasonal movements in a data series. Amounts are seasonally adjusted at the National and State levels only.

Unadjusted

Mississippi’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10.0 percent in May. When compared to the year ago rate of 10.4 percent, the rate decreased fourtenths of a percentage point. The number of unemployed increased 500 over the month, while the employed total increased 7,700 from the prior month. The Nation’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2011 at 8.7 percent was constant from the prior month, and decreased six-tenths of a percentage point from the year ago rate of 9.3 percent.

Results from Mississippi’s nonfarm employment survey, which is counted by the location of establishments, reported a not seasonally adjusted employment decrease of 3,100 over the month and 4,000 from one year ago. Industry sectors registering the largest monthly employment losses were Government, and Educational & Health Services; while Leisure & Hospitality had the largest monthly gain.

For the month of May 2011, only twenty-four counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 10.0 percent. Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of May at 6.1 percent followed by Madison County at 6.9 percent. Ten counties reported rates greater than or equal to 15.0 percent. Tunica County had the highest unemployment rate for May at 31.1 percent followed by Claiborne County at 17.6 percent. The majority of the over the month unemployment rate increases at the county level were due to flood conditions.