Unemployment in the Twin Counties continues to rate among the highest in the state, as Calhoun County stands at 65th of the 82 counties, while Chickasaw County ranks 78th.

Calhoun posted a 9.1 percent unemployment rate in October, as 560 of the county's 6,100 workers were without jobs. That was an improvement on September's 10.4 percent rate, but a full percentage point higher than October 2007's 8.1 percent rate.

In Chickasaw County, 890 of 7,750 workers were jobless in October, totaling 11.4 percent unemployment. As in Calhoun, this was an improvement on September, when Chickasaw's jobless rate was 12.5 percent; but it's higher than the 9.8 percent rate of October 2007.

Over the 12 months ending in October, Calhoun's jobless rate averaged 9.3 percent. That measure was 10.6 percent in Chickasaw County.

For both counties, the rate remained higher than in any of the previous five years for October.

Regionally

Preliminary data from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security shows that the unemployment rate for Northeast Mississippi for October was 8.2 percent.

September's rate was 8.7 percent.

But the NeMiss jobless rate was higher than the state average of 6.9 percent. And compared to a year ago, October's unemployment rate in the 16-county region jumped a full percentage point, from 7.2 percent to 8.2 percent.

It should be noted that the labor force - the number of people employed or actively seeking employment - has stayed about the same in the region. In October 2007, the labor force was about 218,150 according to MDES estimates; this year, that number was 218,580.

However, the number of employed has shrunk in the past year, from 202,410 to 200,710.

Reduced labor force

The drop in the region's unemployment rate from September to October this year can be attributed to a reduction in the labor force numbers and a slight increase in the number of employed.

Three of the region's counties recorded month-over-month increases in unemployment rates, 12 posted declines. Alcorn County was unchanged.

Lafayette County's 4.7 percent rate was the lowest in the region and second-lowest in the state.