Lincoln County had more people in the work force in August, but more unemployed, too.

Of the county’s 14,130 people in the work force last month — those who said they were able to work, and were not full-time students, military or farm labor — 13,060 were employed and 1,070 (7.5%) said they were actively looking for employment.

The rate is a drop from July’s 8.9% (1,260 unemployed), and the work force has grown by 80 individuals. One year ago, the county had 14,670 in the work force and 890 unemployed (6%).

Lincoln’s 12-month moving average was 7.1% unemployment (1,010 people) from a work force of 14,260. In a five-year comparison of unemployment rates in August, Lincoln County has previously averaged 5.6% 2015-2019. The lowest rate was 4.9% in 2018, and the highest prior to this year was 6%, in both 2015 and 2019.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 7.9% for August, with Rankin County holding the spot of lowest unemployment (4.7%) and Jefferson County anchoring the bottom slot with 20.8%. Eighteen counties fell in the range of 10.1-15.8%, and the rest stretched from 5.6% to 9.7%.

Rankin County’s 4.7% nevertheless represents 3,420 people out of work in a county with a work force of 72,540. Jefferson’s 20.8%, however, is representative of 410 people without employment from a work force of 1,950.

The counties bordering Lincoln County had unemployment rates from 8.2% in Copiah County to Jefferson County’s 20.8% — Franklin, 9%; Amite and Walthall, 9.5%; Pike, 9.6%; and Lawrence, 9.7%.

Across Mississippi, 97,800 people were without work in August; 1.141 million were employed. Nationally, 13.742 million (8.5%) were without jobs for the month; 147.224 million were employed.

Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, unemployment and unemployment rate are generated by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program, a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and State Employment Security agencies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines an individual employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit during the survey week; this includes all part-time and temporary work as well as full time year round employment. Unemployed individuals are those who do not have a job, have actively looked for work during the past four weeks and are currently available for work. The sum of employed and unemployed produces the Civilian Labor Force.