Lincoln County’s unemployment rate is nearly a point higher in June than it was the previous month, according to the latest figures released from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

The county sits at the 28th spot among the 82 counties with 6.2 percent, tied with Hancock, Jones and Tate counties.

Nearly 14,000 individuals were employed in June out of a labor force of 14,880. Though it’s a higher unemployment rate than the previous month —5.5 percent — the labor force grew by 170, up from 14,710 people in May.

The number of non-farm jobs statewide increased by 4,000 in the June to 1,148,600. This number is based on employer surveys and is considered the most reliable indicator of job growth. Over the year since June 2016, this number increased by 6,100.

Mississippi’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5 percent in June, the second lowest rate since January 1976, when the current method of calculating state unemployment rates started.

The state’s June rate is one-tenth of a percentage point higher than a month earlier in May when the rate was 4.9 percent, but is nearly a full point lower than a year ago in June 2016, when the rate was 5.9.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for June was 4.4 percent, translating to 6.9 million unemployed individuals.

The labor force, which is made up of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, decreased in June statewide by 7,100 to 1,296,100.  However, over the year since June 2016, the Labor Force has grown by 17,100.

The number of people working in Mississippi decreased in June by 8,200 to 1,230,800.  For the year since June 2016 employment in our state posted an increase of 27,400.

The number of unemployed Mississippians increased in June by 1,100 to 65,300.  Over the year since June 2016, the number of Mississippians without jobs fell by 10,300.

Rankin County continues to have the lowest rate of unemployment in the state, at 4.3 percent. Issaquena and Jefferson counties continue to have the highest rate, at 12.2 and 16.7 percent, respectively.

The unemployment rate was down from June 2016 when it sat at 6.4 percent, with 940 people unemployed out of a labor force of 14,600. This reflects a steady decline in the unemployed rate from 6.7 percent in June 2015, and 7.4 percent, 8.7 percent and 9.3 percent in June of the previous three years.