UNEMPLOYMENT
From page 3
2018. The region's April numbers did, however, signal an improvement from the revised 5.2% for March.
The Golden Triangle's unemployment also lagged the state unemployed rate of 4.6% and the national unemployment rate of 3.3%.
Clay County reported its labor force to be 7,840, with 7,360 people employed and 480 people out of work. The county, which includes the city of West Point, did see a sizable improvement from March's 6.6% revised unemployment rate.
Choctaw County was reported to be the only county in the Golden Triangle area to see no change or better over the previous year, reporting a consistent 4.5% unemployment for April for the third year in a row.
The region's unemployment was also the highest for the month of April since 2016.
Unemployment in Oktibbeha County climbed to 4.9% from the previous year's 4.2%, which represents the highest unemployment total for April since 2015. Overall, the county finished tied for 36th among Mississippi's 82 counties.
Oktibbeha's labor force was reported to be 22,590, with 21,490 people employed. Preliminary data shows 1,100 were unemployed in April.
Lowndes County saw unemployment rise from 4.3% in April 2018 to 4.7% this year.
As for municipalities, both Columbus and Starkville saw unemployment climb from April 2018.
Unemployment in Columbus came in at 5%, up nearly half a percentage point from 4.6% unemployment reported in April 2018. The Friendly City's labor force was reported to be 9,740, with 9,250 people employed and 490 unemployed.
Starkville also saw unemployment climb to its highest rate for April since 2016, with 3.9% unemployment for April. That is up from 3.5% unemployment in April 2018.
The labor force for Starkville was reported to be 12,160 people, 11,680 of which were employed in April with 480 people unemployed.
West Point was not included among the cities in the report.
Rankin County again finished with the lowest unemployment rate among Mississippi counties at 3.4%, while Jefferson County finished as the only Mississippi county with double-digit unemployment at 10.9%.