Choctaw County continues to see a gradual decrease of its unemployment rate, while the entire state’s rate held steady during the month of March.
Choctaw County’s unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the month of March 2018 was 4.7 percent, which was a 0.3 percent decrease from the February 2018 rate of 5.0 percent. The county’s January 2018 unemployment rate was 5.9 percent.
Mississippi’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March 2018 was 4.5 percent, tying the rate last month in February as the lowest level of unemployment ever recorded in Mississippi.
The March rate is eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than a year ago in March 2017, when the rate was 5.3 percent.
The number of non-farm jobs in Mississippi rose by 1,000 in March to 1,165,200, which are the most jobs ever recorded in Mississippi.
Over the year since March 2017, the number of jobs in our state increased by 14,400. These numbers are based on a survey of employers. That employer survey is recognized as the most reliable indicator of job growth.
Seasonally adjusted data 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. These adjustments make it easier to observe the cyclical and other non-seasonal movements in a data series. Amounts are seasonally adjusted at the National and State levels only.
Mississippi’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2018 was 4.3 percent, decreasing two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month’s rate of 4.5 percent. When compared to the March 2017 rate of 5.1 percent, the rate decreased eight-tenths of a percentage point.
The estimated number of unemployed decreased 2,000 over the month, while the employed total increased 3,700 from the prior month.
The unadjusted rate of unemployed people in Choctaw County for March 2018 was 4.7 percent, with the number of unemployed people being 170. The number of employed people in the county for March 2018 was 3,470.
The Labor Force of the entire state, which is made up of everyone who has a job or is looking for a job, decreased in March by 500 to 1,273,700. Over the year since March 2017, the Labor Force fell by 8,900.
The Labor Force in Choctaw County increased by 50, bringing it to the total of 3,640. The Labor Force for Choctaw for February 2018 was 3,590.
The number of people working in Mississippi fell slightly in March by 100 to 1,216,400; however, for the year since March 2017, employment in our state increased by 2,200.
The number of unemployed Mississippians fell by 400 in March to 57,300, which is the lowest number of Mississippians without jobs since July 1979.
For the month of March 2018, thirty-one counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 4.3 percent. Rankin County posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of March at 3.0 percent followed by Union County at 3.1 percent.
Jefferson County had the highest unemployment rate for March at 12.6 percent followed by Issaquena County at 10.8 percent.
Over the year since March 2017, the number of unemployed Mississippians decreased by 11,100.
For details or questions on this information, please contact Mary Willoughby at (601) 321-6260 or by email at:
mwilloughby@mdes.ms.gov.
