The unemployment rate for Starkville and Oktibbeha County saw substantial improvement in August, which coincided with the start of the fall semester at Mississippi State University.
The county saw a substantial jump in employment from the revised 6.5 percent unemployment in July to 5 percent in August, according to the latest data from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
Oktibbeha County's unemployment rate was also lower than the state unemployment rate of 5.1 percent. The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state in August was 5.3 percent. This was up slightly from the previous month's revised 5.3 percent unemployment statewide.
The MDES refers to the seasonally adjusted rate as data that "removes the effects of events that follow a more or less regular pattern each year such as the influences of weather, holidays, the opening and closing of schools, and other recurring seasonal events."
The preliminary number of unemployed in Oktibbeha County was reportedly 1,090, while 20,710 people in the county were listed as employed.
The city of Starkville saw its unemployment rate fall more than a percentage point from 5.5 percent in July to 4.4 percent in August.
Preliminary August data showed Starkville's labor force consisting of 12,460 people, while 11,910 are listed as employed. Currently, 550 people within the city limits are reportedly unemployed.
Unemployment for neighboring counties was reported as follows: Clay County (6.7 percent), Choctaw County (4.8 percent), Lowndes County (5.4 percent), Noxubee County (7.4 percent), Winston County (6.4 percent) and Webster County (5.2 percent).
Rankin County again led the way for Mississippi counties with the lowest unemployment rate (3.5 percent), while Jefferson County had the highest at 14.9 percent.
The preliminary national unemployment was at 4.4 percent for August, up slightly from the revised 4.3 percent unemployment reported in July. However, the national unemployment rate has improved year-over-year from 4.9 percent in August 2016.