May unemployment statistics rise

Published 5:00 am Monday, June 30, 2008

Lincoln County’s unemployment rate jumped a full point in thetime between April and May of this year, rising from April’s 6.3percent to May’s 7.3 percent.

Numbers rose around the state as well, according to statisticsreleased by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.Statewide, the rate was 5.9 percent in April and 6.9 percent inMay. That rate is still higher than numbers in 2007, when the statesat at an unemployment rate of 6 percent.

WIN Jobs Center Director David Holland said seasonal educationallayoffs are a large part of the change in the numbers for not onlyLincoln County, but also for the state.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“All the people that work for Headstart came in in early May,and they will go back when school starts,” he said. “We’ve also gotthe school employees who are on nine-month contracts, such ascafeteria workers and bus drivers, and even substitute teachersthat are teaching pretty regularly are filing unemployment.Education affects us in a big way.”

Officials report that unemployment rates increased over themonth in 80 of Mississippi’s 82 counties, with 27 countiesreporting rates lower than the state’s rate, and 13 reportingdouble-digit unemployment rates.

Another contributing factor locally is industry, Hollandsaid.

“Part of this big hike in the rate for the month of May isattributable to layoffs in local industry due to lack of work,” hesaid.

Some officials credit the influx of college students into thelabor force as well as temporary and seasonal layoffs throughoutthe state for the sudden jump in unemployment numbers.

“We’ve got the college students and high school studentsentering the workforce, all those dynamics going,” Holland said.”The whole state went up, so that much is the same trend, we’ve gotthe students entering the labor force for the summer.”

Other local counties recorded similar increases to LincolnCounty and the overall state, with Amite showing the smallestupturn of only .3 percent, from April’s 6.2 percent to May’s 6.5percent.

Copiah County showed a rise from 5.9 percent in April to 7.1percent in May, while Walthall showed a similar rise from 5.8percent to 6.9 percent over the month.

Lawrence County was up from 6.6 percent in April to 7.6 percentin May. Pike County is up from April’s 6.2 percent to 7.1 percentin May.

Franklin County’s rate jumped from 5.8 percent in April to 7.6percent in May.

Jefferson County has the second-highest unemployment rate in thestate, at 12.3 in May, as opposed to April’s 10.7 percent. OnlyChickasaw County’s rate is higher, at 13.3 percent.