Pearl River County’s unemployment rate was ranked as 18th in the state during the month of March.
According to information released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Pearl River County’s unemployment rate for the month of March was 5.6 percent, which is a decrease from February’s revised rate of 6.2 percent. Overall, the rate puts Pearl River County 18th out of the state’s 82 counties. A year ago in March the county’s unemployment rate was 7.1 percent.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Mississippi in November was 6.8 percent, a decrease from February’s revised rate of 7 percent. In March of 2014 Mississippi’s adjusted unemployment rate was 7.7 percent.
Nationwide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in March was 5.5 percent, a rate that remained steady from the previous month.
A year ago in March the nationwide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6 percent.
Seasonally adjusted rates factor in patterns such as weather, holidays, school schedules and other occurrences that regularly affect employment rates. Only nationwide and statewide percentages are adjusted.
Mississippi’s unadjusted rate for March was 6.2 percent, the report states. The state’s unadjusted revised rate for February was 6.8 percent.
Mississippi’s unadjusted rate for March 2014 was 8.2 percent. Nationwide, the unadjusted unemployment rate in March was 5.6 percent, a decrease from February’s rate of 5.8 percent. In March of the previous year, the unadjusted unemployment rate in the United States was 6.8 percent.
Of Mississippi’s 82 counties, 28 reported unemployment rates at or below the statewide-unadjusted average of 6.2 percent. Rankin County again reported the least amount of unemployment with 3.7 percent. Lamar and Scott counties followed with a rate of 4.2 percent.
Issaqueana County reported a population of the most unemployed with a rate of 18.7 percent while Humphreys County reported the second highest rate of 14.1 percent.