In a survey released by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, more Mississippians are gainfully employed in 2016 as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent.

The unemployment rate for January 2016 in Lafayette County was 6.3 percent, which is below the state average. Since January 2015, employment in the state has increased by 44,500 jobs.

The Labor Force for Mississippi is made up of people who have a job or are presently seeking employment. This number grew in January 2016 for the 19th consecutive month rising by 10,500.

The number of people working in Mississippi climbed for the 20th month in a row by 10,200 to a total number of 1,212,000. More Mississippians are working now than before the Great Recession in 2008.

We have always been blessed in Lafayette County to have low unemployment and have led the state in that number for many years.

One of the problems that we are seeing now is the number of skillful workforce residents living in our county is shrinking.

We appreciate the focused effort from Mississippi Department of Employment Security on keeping jobs here, ensuring residents have skills for employment and doing its part to lower the unemployment rate here.