Webster County’s unemployment rate increased three-tenths of a percentage point during May, according to preliminary numbers from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
The county’s unemployment rate stood at 2.9% during May, which was tied with five other counties as the 18th lowest rate in the state. This compares to the record-low 2.6% (revised) in April and 3.5% in May 2022. The 12-month moving average is 3.6%.
The number of unemployed Webster Countians in May increased by 10 to an estimated 110. The labor force, which is made up of everyone who has a job or is looking for one, increased by 10 to an estimated 3,840.
MDES statistics from 1990 forward show the county’s highest unemployment rate for May was recorded in 1992, when it reached 17.8%. This year’s rate was the lowest seen for May.
May jobless rates in adjoining counties: Calhoun, 3.1%; Chickasaw, 4%; Choctaw, 2.5%; Clay, 2.9%; Grenada, 3.4%; Montgomery, 3.1%; and Oktibbeha, 3%. Rankin and Union counties posted the lowest unemployment rates at 2.1% each while Jefferson County had the highest at 10.2%.
Mississippi’s unemployment rate for May was 3% while the national jobless rate was 3.4%, neither seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted, the state’s unemployment rate was 3.2% and the nation’s was 3.7%.
