Northeast Mississippi has lowest unemployment rate in years
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Northeast Mississippi has posted the lowest monthly jobless rate in 10 years.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports the 16 counties in the region posted a collective unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in October. There were 11,490 people unemployed last month, down from 12,840 in September.
The figures, provided by Mississippi Department of Employment Security, mark the lowest jobless rates since 2005, the year the newspaper started keeping track of the figures. That year, the lowest monthly jobless rate was 6.3 percent in September.
From April 2009 to Jan. 2012, the region had 43 months of double-digit unemployment rates.
The unemployment rate for Oct. 2015 has dropped to 5.9 percent statewide for the first time in eight years. The national jobless rate was 4.8 percent last month.
