Unemployment for Oktibbeha County improved from June to July, falling to 6.5 percent from 7.1 percent in the previous month.
Unemployment for the city of Starkville was at 5.5 percent for July, which stayed unchanged from the previous month, according to the latest data from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Oktibbeha County improved slightly year-over-year, from 6.6 percent in July 2016.
Starkville’s labor force, which consists of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, was reported to be 11,870, while 11,210 are listed as employed.
In total, 660 were listed as unemployed for July in Starkville.
In terms of rankings, Oktibbeha County finished tied at 35th for Mississippi counties, along with Copiah, Marion and Warren counties.
The labor force in Oktibbeha County was 22,040, with 20,610 listed as employed. Across the county, 1,430 are reportedly unemployed.
THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE AREA
The rest of the Golden Triangle saw upticks in unemployment, with Lowndes County increasing 0.2 percent to 6.8 percent unemployment, while Clay County’s unemployment rose more than a percentage point to 9.0 percent.
Webster County reported a 0.3 percent increase to 6.7 percent unemployment for July.
Noxubee County saw its unemployment rise sharply by more than a percentage point from 8.6 percent in June to 9.7 percent in July.
MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi’s unadjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month, and when compared to the July 2016 rate of 6.4 percent, the rate decreased three-tenths of a percentage point.
The state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.2 percent to 5.2 percent in July, but showed strong improvement from last July’s 5.9 percent.
The Mississippi Department of Employment Security reported the number of non-farm jobs rose in Mississippi in July 2017 by 1,800 to 1,153,100, which are the most jobs the state has seen since May 2008.
The government sector saw the largest monthly employment loss, while the trade, transportation and utilites sector had the largest monthly gain.
Rankin County and Union County tied for Mississippi’s lowest unemployment rate with 4.1.
Overall, the state lagged the nation’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate, which was reported 4.3 percent for July.
Jefferson County finished with the state’s highest unemployment rate among counties, reporting 17 percent without work in July.