Kemper unemployment rate drops 1.4 percent

Kemper County’s September unemployment rate dropped 1.7 percent when compared to the previous month, according to fig­ures from the Mississippi Depart­ment of Employment Security figures.

The rate stood at 6.7 percent in September 2021. That’s a drop of 2 percentage points when com­pared to the 8.7 unemployment rate in September 2020.

Kemper County’s labor force in September stood at 3,300 peo­ple, a decrease of 220 people when compared to August. Of that, 220 people were out of work in September.

Here is a look at the unemploy­ment rates in neighboring coun­ties.

Sep 2021 Aug. 2021 Sep.2020

Neshoba 4.9 6.2 7.0

Kemper 6.7 8.4 8.7

Lauderdale 4.5 8.4 6.5

Leake 4.7 5.9 7.0

Newton 4.9 6.3 7.0

Scott 3.8 4.7 5.1

Noxubee 7.6 8.7 11.1

Winston 5.2 6 8.1

Attala 5.0 6.2 7.9

Mississippi’s unemployment rate for September 2021 at 4.7 percent decreased 1.2 percent­age points from the previous month. The rate decreased 2.3 percentage points when com­pared to a year ago.

The number of unemployed de­creased 15,500 over the month, while the employed total in­creased 8,500 from the prior month.

The Nation’s for September 2021 at 4.6 percent decreased seven-tenths of a percentage point over the month, and was 3.1 percentage points lower than the year ago rate of 7.7 percent. Mississippi’s non-farm employ­ment increased 7,100 over the month and was 23,900 higher than one year ago.

Industry sectors registering the largest monthly employment gains were Professional & Busi­ness Services; Trade, Transporta­tion & Utilities; Government; and Educational & Health Services. For the month of September 2021, 32 counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 4.7 percent.

Rankin County posted the low­est unemployment rate for the month of September at 3.1 per­cent followed by Union County at 3.3 percent. Jefferson County had the highest unemployment rate for September at 15.6 per­cent followed by Humphreys County at 10.7 percent.