On Labor Day weekend, the United States paused to honor and recognize the contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the nation.

The national holiday has been celebrated since 1894 on the first Monday of September, and although the holiday has come to symbolize the end of summer and is marked by sales and cookouts, its primary purpose is to celebrate the common worker.

New Bureau of Labor data shows that unemployment in Mississippi remained stubbornly high in July 2021 at 6.7 percent (seasonally adjusted is 6.1 percent). 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.
Unemployment in Mississippi peaked at 15.7 percent in April 2020, at the height of the COVID shutdown. But as this latest data confirms, unemployment still remains significantly above what it was before the pandemic, when the unemployment rate was as low as 4.8 percent.

For the month of July, Jefferson Davis County ranked 63 in the state with unemployment at 8.8 percent. When compared to one year ago, the rate was 2.7 percentage points lower than the 11.5 percent reported for July 2020.

Jefferson Davis County’s available work force in July 2021 was 4,190, with 3,820 employed and 370 unemployed, resulting in the 8.8 percent. The work force includes persons age 16 and older who are able to work and are either employed or looking for work. This number does not include full-time students, members of the Armed Forces or those with farm jobs.

In June of this year, Jefferson Davis County was at 9.9 percent unemployment.

“One of the great things about our county is the available workforce,” said Economic Development Director Gary Bass. “Another is the workforce training that is available for new business ventures through our friends at Pearl River Community College. They have numerous programs for retraining people who want or need a new trade or just a new adventure.”

Jefferson Davis County had 51 initial unemployment claims in July 2021, and 404 continued claims. This is down from June 2021 when it was reported that Jefferson Davis County had 69 initial claims and 4,909 continued claims. Comparatively, June 2020 showed 187 initial unemployment claims and 2,020 continued unemployment claims.

Total benefits paid in all unemployment programs for July 2021 for JDC are $77,350.

Total benefits for June 2021 were $591,745, with July 2020 being $2,795,879.

Monthly estimates of the labor force, employment, unemployment and the unemployment rate are generated by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program, a cooperative program between the Bureau of Labor Statistics and State Employment Security Agencies.