Lincoln County had fewer unemployed people in February, though the labor force dropped a bit, as well. The labor force dropped by 30 people, but the number of unemployed dropped by 100.

Lincoln County’s February unemployment rate of 5.1 percent tied with Chickasaw, Lowndes, Monroe and Newton counties to rank more favorably statewide than the county’s typical placement closer to the state average. That 5.1 rate translates to 740 individuals who reported they were looking for work but unable to find employment during the month. Lincoln’s workforce was 14,380 for February.

In January, Lincoln County had 840 persons looking for work from a labor force of 14,410 — 5.8 percent.

The counties around Lincoln had unemployment rates as high as 13.7 in Jefferson County, down to 5.9 in Pike and Lawrence counties. Copiah’s rate was 6, Franklin’s was 6.2, Walthall was 6.6 and Amite had a rate of 6.8.

In February, Mississippi had a labor force of 1,276,500, down 2,800 from January, but up 6,400 from one year ago. The state’s unemployment rate of 5.4 percent for February (68,400 people), was down by 1,400 people and from 5.5 percent. This rate was up from one year ago, where it sat at 5.2 percent, or 66,200 unemployed.

The U.S. had a February labor force of 164.54 million, down 60,000 from January, but up 1.5 million from one year ago. The national unemployment rate of 3.5 (5.78 million) was down from January’s 3.6 (5.89 million) and down from one year ago, 3.8 percent (6.18 million).

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 5.4 percent. The seasonally adjusted series reported an over the month decrease of 1/10 of a percentage point from 5.5 in January. The rate increased 2/10of a percentage point when compared to February 2019. The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed individuals decreased 1,400 from January.

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 3.5 percent decreased 1/10 of a percentage point over the month, and was 3/10 of a percentage point lower than the year ago rate of 3.8 percent.

In February, there were 3,600 more jobs in Mississippi than in January, and 5,600 more than February 2019, according to the seasonally adjusted results from a survey of Mississippi employers. The current 1,164,100 jobs in Mississippi are the most number of jobs in the state since the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics began calculating state non-farm seasonally adjusted data numbers for January 1990 forward. 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 nonseasonal movements in a data series. Amounts are seasonally adjusted at the National and State levels only.

Unadjusted Mississippi’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February 2020 was 5.1 percent, decreasing 3/10 of a percentage point from the previous month’s rate of 5.4 percent. When compared to the February 2019 rate of 5.2 percent, the rate decreased 1/10 of a percentage point. The number of unemployed decreased 2,900 over the month, while the employed total increased 8,300 from the prior month. The nation’s not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February 2020 at 3.8 percent decreased two-tenths of a percentage point over the month and 3/10 of a percentage point over the year.

Mississippi’s not seasonally adjusted non-farm employment increased 10,800 over the month and was 4,500 higher than one year ago. Industry sectors registering the largest monthly employment gains were government; leisure and hospitality; Educational and health services; and manufacturing.

For the month of February, 26 counties in Mississippi posted unemployment rates less than or equal to the state’s rate of 5.1 percent. Lafayette and Rankin Counties posted the lowest unemployment rate for the month of February at 3.8 percent followed by Lamar, Madison and Union Counties at 4.0 percent. Jefferson County had the highest unemployment rate for February at 13.7 percent followed by Humphreys County at 11.5 percent.

Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, unemployment and unemployment rate are generated by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program, a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and State Employment Security agencies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines an individual employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit during the survey week; this includes all part-time and temporary work as well as full time year round employment. Unemployed individuals are those who do not have a job, have actively looked for work during the past four weeks and are currently available for work. The sum of employed and unemployed produces the Civilian Labor Force.