County Unemployment at 15.1%

Winston County’s unemployment rate stood at 15.1% in May. The County ranks 75th out of the 82 counties in the state. This is a slight improvement from April’s figure of 15.3%, but the actual number of unemployed remained the same. MDES data indicates that 1140 individuals were unemployed in the county in May and April. This indicates that while more found employment in May, more individuals were added to the overall available workforce. The May figure is a significant improvement over the 19.1% rate from one year ago.

Tunica County saw a drastic increase in unemployment most likely due to Spring flooding in the area. It’s rate of unemployment was at 31.1 percent. Mississippi’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2011 was 10.3 percent. The state’s seasonally adjusted series reported an over the month and over the year decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from 10.4 in April 2011 and May 2010.